In the last post we talked about the importance of intuition in choosing the foods that you eat. The bottom line is that if you are having a strong biological craving, you must fulfill it to the best of your ability. For young children intuitive eating is probably the most important guide. In an adult, especially one that spends a great deal of time lingering at food-centric health websites like this one, intuitive eating is often way too muddied up by intellectual interference.
Much of this intellectual interference comes from information. The rest comes from decades of accumulated baggage that comes in the form of conditioning ? such as having your parents coerce you into believing that you don’t like vegetables and that cake and ice cream is a ‘treat? or a symbol of elated celebration. This is powerful psychological firepower for making someone a junkfood junkie with an aversion to anything considered health food (which can have deep-seated emotional ties to sacrifice, hard work, punishment, and mundaneness when parents and society interfere with their child’s natural intuition). Even parents with the best intentions often make eating healthy akin to ?cleaning your room? and eating junk food one of the great joys and rewards of life. Oops.
While there is no doubt that we should all take strides to reboot our brains when it comes to various conditioning with food, and to some extent information, the thought that an educated nutrition geek could really move forward and leave all intellect out of the kitchen is simply a pipe dream. At this point, even though I’m thinking about what I’m eating a lot less than I once did, there’s really no way that I could just not think about what I’m eating completely. And maybe it’s okay that I can’t take it to that level. Information can and will always be one of the many important influences when it comes to healthy eating.
I give out information. And that information has helped thousands of people at this point to improve their health, and do so primarily with changes in nutrition and attitudes about eating. And as with any source of health information, this information has let thousands down as well, as many mis-interpreted this information, weren’t patient enough to follow through on the information, or simply invested too much into the information itself while not relying on other important aspects of healthy eating ? intuition and investigation (which we will discuss in the final episode of this series). Information is limited in its scope and blind when intuition and investigation are left out of the picture.
With intuition and a good food supply without refined and processed modern foods, we probably wouldn’t need much information about eating. But there is such a glut of information out there in the world today that information is a powerful tool at combating other, less accurate information. Or not even inaccurate, but more like inflated, out-of-context, sensationalized, myopic dogma in need of a firm turkey tap (also known as a sack wack). That’s pretty much where I come in.
To keep mental interference out of the way and open up people to more freedom of exploration and self-experimentation (what I will refer to in the final episode as ?investigation?), my information has become increasingly softer and less dogmatic over the years. I’ve found with any firm position there are always enough contradictions, exceptions, individual circumstances, and other factors that a firm position on things is unjustifiable. For some, even just being able to relax in a social setting with food and eat whatever is served is far more healthy than eating ‘the perfect diet,? whatever that is. I hope to continue my flexibility in thinking as 180 continues to move forward.
The firmest nutritional conclusions that I have come to thus far are:
1) One of the greatest assets in health preservation and disease resistance is the ability to produce cellular energy at a high rate ? something I casually refer to as having a ?high metabolism. Carbohydrates and short-chain saturated fatty acids (in dairy fat and produced from the fermentation of fiber and resistant starch in the gut – of course, there can be individual circumstances when dairy and fiber are both ill-advised) are the most metabolically-stimulating foods, but only in the context of an otherwise sound diet (not completely vegan, not overly fat restricted, not calorie-restricted, mostly ?food-based?).
2) Polyunsaturated fatty acids, because of their heat, light, and oxygen-sensitive nature ? as well as their ability to suppress cellular energy production, will age you at a more rapid rate. Polyunsaturated fat is unavoidable in a normal, mixed diet ? and some polyunsaturated fat consumption may be necessary or even optimal compared to extreme restriction, but there’s little question in my mind that consuming excesses of this type of fat is not optimal (especially in the form of vegetable oils that have had high heat exposure ? as in fried foods like French fries, chips, etc.).
3) Eating below appetite reduces metabolic rate. Eating above appetite increases metabolic rate. Eating to appetite can either increase or decrease metabolic rate depending on what you are eating and a number of factors involved in metabolic rate such as type and duration of exercise, stress levels, sleep, sunlight exposure, nutritional status, and so on.
Of course there are dozens of other conclusions that I’ve come to, but none are as firm as these. Still, even with these conclusions, I’m not running around looking for supporting evidence but actively trying to seek out contradictory information to soften these dogmatic stances if warranted. In fact, I’ve received numerous reports of people reversing serious inflammatory disorders using moderate amounts of corn oil as their primary added fat. See enough of this over the summer as I shadow a practitioner using corn oil and claiming to get good results, and I will be more than happy to issue a challenge to the dozens of bloggers and authors entrenched in the belief that omega 6 polyunsaturated fat consumption is the primary driver of inflammation (a belief I currently hold as well, but which has lost a little steam as I have personally followed a very low omega 6 diet for 18 months with marginal improvements in outwardly signs of inflammation ? and it requires more and more straining to chalk?all problems and shortcoming?up to it being “flushed” out of the system).
Stay tuned for the final and most important episode of the 180 Healthy Eating Guide ? Investigation.
How to RAISE YOUR METABOLISM.
Good post from Stephan, that ties into these discussions:
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/06/food-reward-dominant-factor-in-obesity_28.html
the issue with how parents handle their children's diet and what influences they have over them is not so easily explained as you say, in my opinion. i grew up in a home where my mom cooked 95-99% of our meals and we ate a "mixed diet." she never went extreme in either direction. while she did buy into the "coconut oil is deathly" propaganda and used veg oils and Crisco for baking, we always had real butter. she would serve at least something from every food group at each meal and even provided bread w/ peanut butter if the main meal was not enough for us growing kids. we did have low fat dairy, but she never bought "low fat" or diet packaged foods. we had pop on special occasions and had desserts, but not every night. when we were much older we were allowed to go shopping with her and pick out what we wanted with very few if any restrictions. "Ding Dongs" i remember were a special treat. and treats in general were for after a good meal. i don't remember being forced to eat anything or clean my plate, but we grew up with the whole mantra that vegetables are good for you and sugar is not and should be a special occasion thing. it also helped that in my mom's family when she was growing up she learned that when she was hungry an egg sandwich was what really helped instead of a carrot as her mother used to tell her to eat. so i believe she got into the habit of making something real to eat instead of reaching for the nearest packaged snack food or rabbit fodder–and i feel lucky that she carried that mentality her whole life so i could benefit from it.
none of us kids had any major health problems nor did we just go binge on junk food then or now. none of us were ever over or under weight (except for me when i went on my raw vegan kick) and to this day we eat "healthier" than any of our friends. and back then our friends all thought we were weird b/c we ate fresh vegetables like asparagus and always had fresh fruit around and *gasp* we actually liked it!
i think the way a child responds to food has as many factors as anyone could think of. i don't think it is wrong or even a detrimental thing to label desserts as an after dinner treat. i used to be very strict with what my children could and could not eat, but since relaxing about it they eat what they want and if it's a treat they eat some, but have never been inclined to binge. they also like a lot of fresh foods and have healthy appetites. i also think with the massive amounts of information and propaganda and endless media attention to the newest health fad, that parents are not only overwhelmed by the choices, but if they didn't grow up in a place where they were fed good food on a regular basis they will have no foundation on which to guide their own offspring into good health.
When you have kids, Matt, I will like to see how you handle sweets and desserts with them. :)
Hey Matt,
This is a good series with some important philosophical and conceptual concepts.
Regarding corn oil, the first human guinea pig for Burr's EFA hypothesis, as I pointed out in Precious Yet Perilous, cured his eczema with it. When Burr's grad student tried to give himself EFA deficiency over six months with an extreme low-fat diet, all he managed to do was cure his life-long problem with migraines and high blood pressure.
I've been an opponent of the idea that omega-6 fatty acids are intrinsically"inflammatory" ever since I wrote my first PUFA report. I think excess linoleic acid can deplete tissue levels of DHA, which is inflammatory, and that over the course of years, PUFAs can induce vitamin E deficiency and oxidative stress as they saturate adipose tissue.
In the short-term, corn oil could easily be therapeutic by correcting an EFA deficiency or by supplying needed vitamin E. The evidence suggests, however, that their nasty effects may take up to eight years to manifest, depending on how much of an excess is in the diet.
I don't think we should be dogmatically against any use of corn oil, but I doubt it's the best option in most instances, and I feel pretty confident that it's long-term use as a staple is more or less toxic.
Chris
Chris
What is your take on Peats idea that "EFA deficiency" is actually caused by inadequate intake of other nutrients due to elevated metabolism? As I recall In your article you mention that supplementing vitamin B6 only cured the EFA deficiency symptoms by increasing LA->AA conversion, but was it shown that symptoms would reappear regardless of nutrient supplementation when LA was depleted?
What I find odd about EFAs being essntial is that they are primarily implicated in the immune system, so are supposedly essential for efficient and adaptive immune function, yet there are dozens of papers on EFA-deficient animals which show them having superior immune function or superior resilience to various toxins, does this make sense to you?
Hi Collden,
I've never seen any evidence (other than total hogwash) that LA is physiologically essential. I review Peat's hypothesis rather thoroughly in my first PUFA report, and I gave the highlights in Precious Yet Perilous. The nutrients cure EFA deficiency by increasing tissue arachidonic acid. EFA deficiency is a result of deficient tissue arachidonic acid.
I don't think EFA deficient animals have superior immune function. They are resistant to some snake venom and other sorts of immune-mediated toxic shock, because they are immunodeficient. It is kind of like the RAGE-knockout mice. RAGE is essential to the immune system, so if you keep the mice in a specific pathogen free facility you can show all sorts of benefits in specific models that involve immune-mediated harm. Put them in the real world and they die of infection.
Chris
thanks Chris… good info, as always :)
Robots are cool.
;-)
Matt, Chris
Just to share my anecdote… Matt your stance on PUFAs/omega-6 appears to be consistent with my experience and it is interesting to me that you haven't changed it much despite changing much of your stance on other things. Eating SAD i had some sort of flaking/dermatitis on my skin (along with irritation). I went paleo for awhile and it seemed to change my skin subtly but overall I would say it got worse. I eventually added rice bread (that had soybean oil) into my diet. I did this for a couple of months (this was about 1 year ago), then one week my symptoms were drastically improved. My skin improved greatly and the unpleasant sensations on my skin went away. The only change I could think of at the time was I got a different type of rice bread that used high-oleic safflower oil (high in mono-s) instead of soybean oil pointing to (fatty acid imbalance) linoleic acid as causing problems. After that I quit paleo and kept my omega-6 low and the skin issues have mostly subsided.
More recently I've been getting a zit here and there (and it seems to definitely be correlated with sugar consumption as many others here have reported). I realized that I haven't taken fish oil in awhile and then I read Chris's "precious and perilous" article and it motivated me to test the hypothesis that I was deficient in DHA. I'm guessing that I was because the acne seems to have improved (hard to say though since the difference is subtle). More significantly though, I noticed lately that my skin has a shiny healthy looking sheen on it that it really hasn't had before. It is very interesting, although I still have been getting an occasional zit.
The bottom line is that my experience with oils has been consistent with what I've read from both of you guys. I'm glad you are putting the information out there.
Chris or anyone
I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the link between sugar consumption and acne? I've seen a lot of people on this blog report it and a lot of speculation but it is such a consistent factor it seems like there could be more solid reasoning behind it. Just curious.
I don't know much about the physiology of acne, but if you believe it could be caused by EFA deficiency, than a link to sugar is somewhat simple, in that refined sugar (but not honey apparently) causes oxidative stress, which causes loss of essential fatty acids and thus EFA deficiency. That's why feeding 80% sucrose diets to rats is necessary to produce EFA deficiency.
Chris
Really interesting discussion–good to see sugar and PUFAs getting some more scrutiny. I think that the raw vegan gourmet food is a good testing ground for PUFA-excess: much of it is so nut-and-seed-heavy that it must cause massive omega-6 overdose, and I think that's why the 'low fat raw vegan' advocates have to recommend such low levels of fat, and why so many people report feeling dreadful after a gourmet raw meal.
(That said, though, since cutting my fat really low lately, I've been feeling great. I'm trying to remind myself that there was also a time when adding fat made me feel much better.)
One other thing that this post, and "team smith's" comment, made me think of was the cultural baggage around 'food reward.' It seems like Americans and North Europeans have much more of a bias against fruit and veg.
It's not that junk food and 'treats' are absent concepts elsewhere: my grandmother in Israel will always pull out the candy when kids show up–but often as not, the kid will go for the almonds, dates, etc, instead. My dad (who's English and lives in England) will barely touch fruit and veg and my brother is the same, so I thought it was a guy thing.
But all my relatives in Israel, including the guys, eat _tons_ of fruit just as snacks, and loads of vegetables in their meals. Sure they eat junk too, but less of it.
How much of that is 'intuition' and how much simply 'culture?' Maybe some cultures interfere with intuition less than others.
Hi Chris,
Could you name a few studies you are referring to when you say that sugar causes oxidative stress?
Thanks.
Hi Jannis,
They are referenced in my PUFA Report, Precious Yet Perilous Article, and there is an additional one in my blog post "High Fructose Corn Syrup Is Sweet Poison, Honey Is Yummy — Against 'Pulling a Campbell'"
http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/2021-precious-yet-perilous
http://blog.cholesterol-and-health.com/2010/10/high-fructose-corn-syrup-is-sweet.html
http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/PUFA-Special-Report.html
Chris
Thanks Chris. I wasn't completely clear. I don't know if there is a link between EFA deficiency perse and acne. My hunch on the matter was that my immune system was out of balance, creating too many pro-inflammatory substances (eicosanoids) creating too much inflammation which I think is linked to acne.
I found a study where they gave fish oil to college students with acne and it greatly improved all of them. This would be consistent with my hunch since (per some of your articles I believe), EPA inhibits some of the eicosanoid pathways and DHA creates less inflammatory eicosanoids.
One interesting thing I noticed about myself is that despite the symptoms of inflammation, I almost never get sick. Sometimes I wonder if my immune system is revved up to high. It does damage but kills bugs perhaps.
Team Smith-
All of that points to neutrality, which is really what you go after when it comes to kids and food. Kids today complain that "all my mom ever talks about is food." Moms used to make food all day, not talk about it haha.
Tierney-
I did have the opportunity in April and May to control a 5-year old child's food. I told her that she can now eat whatever she wants and how much that she wants. In the beginning, she would want ice cream. She would eat an entire ice cream cone and then ask for another. Mom of course was freaking out watching her child eat 1,000 calories in one sitting. Lo and behold she slept through the night without night terrors or wetting the bed for the first time in several weeks. The night terrors and bed wetting never returned.
After that she was allowed to have whatever she wanted. We kept the house stocked with chocolate from Easter, chocolate milk, breakfast sausage, stuff to make pancakes, ice cream, hot dogs, bananas, watermelon, and peanut butter and jelly and bread – all of her favorite foods. She was asked what she wanted for dinner every night and I made it for her.
Some nights she would just have ice cream. One night she only had chocolate milk.
By the end of a couple of months she still had all her Easter candy laying on the floor in her room. This actually led to a roach infestation – they were eating 2 month old Easter candy that she wasn't interested in. A neighbor gave her a bag full of candy, she had a few bites, and then totally forgot about the bag of candy.
She would ask for ice cream, we'd give her a bowl or cone of it, and she would take one bite and then stop eating it and we'd have to scrape the ice cream out of the bowl and back into the container.
She even started asking for water to drink and stopped putting syrup on her pancakes – just eating them plain.
One time she asked specifically for a chocolate doughnut and I took her to get one. I would have bought 5 of them but there was only one left. She ate the doughnut and did not ask for another doughnut for the next 6 weeks I was with her.
So that's how I dealt with it.
How many 5-year olds do you know refuse to put syrup on their pancakes, can eat one bite of birthday cake ice cream and lose interest, who can let a candy bar sit in the fridge for 5 weeks without touching it, who let candy sit next to their bed for 2 months without touching it until insects finally have to eat it, who don't ask for doughnuts or cookies?
This approach fixed her stress-related health problems and made her less interested in pornographic foods than any 5-year old I know. Winning.
In-
I have had improvements in skin color and clarity many times by supplementing fish oil. My skin is the clearest when eating only fruit – something I noticed many years ago when I had the biggest improvements in my skin I've ever had – doing a bunch of those "cleanse" things.
Chris-
Thanks for commenting. There's no question that omega 6 restriction has helped me in a few areas. Most notably, my skin has lost some of the sun spots and sun damage that I incurred sunbathing sans sunscreen in Hawaii years ago on a high-PUFA diet. I have no doubts that keeping heat and light sensitive fats out of the skin is hugely protective against sun exposure, which I get quite a bit of.
Ela-
Everything influences our eating. Culture, custom, advertising, social settings, gender-influenced perceptions of what is feminine or masculine to eat, and so forth.
Much of the intellectual interference I developed with eating as a teenager came from a combination of being told that sweets were bad for me and to be eaten on occassion (leading to binge-proneness) and a no-pain, no-gain kind of attitude I developed from both playing sports and in rebellion to my overly-easy suburban white kid upbringing. So I naturally tried to starve myself and overexercise, then would fail to do either very effectively because I was underfed, then would binge on "bad foods" and feel guilty, then strengthen my resolve and repeat the cycle with heightened ferocity.
It just got worse and worse and worse until I starved myself out in the Wilderness. That was my breaking point, after 10 years of countless starve, binge, and repent cycles.
Undertow-
Had to laugh the other day when someone suggested the milk diet to you. I was laughing my ass off for sure when I read that, thinking of what your reaction must have been when you read that.
Matt, I chuckled to myself for sure, been there, done that. Hard to believe that was a year ago already though!
MATT and UNDERTOW-
Me three!! Ha ha! I was about to reply to him but thought; arg.. forget it, it's funny enough as it is, might as well leave it wide open for Undertow :-D
I miss peanut butter
I was missing peanut butter too. So now I eat about a tablespoon a day. It is a risk I have decided I am willing to take. :-) It makes me feel good. (As opposed to seed oils, which make me feel yucky.)
Love the discussion on omega 6 fats…. especially the potential difference between the naturally occuring stuff in fish vs. refined veggie oils.
I've definitely been playing around with the idea of adding in a bit of peanut butter or other nuts, and more fish to see what it does to my acne problems. Especially since over six months of eating as low omega 6 as possible has not improved my skin at all.
Matt, I know, I remember the story about the girl. And I totally believe you. I do wonder if she represents a typical case, and if that approach would work with all kids.
The problem I would have with it, is it doesn't fit well into the social construct of family meals. I don't want my 3-year-old to dictate what he is eating and when. At some point he needs to learn to sit down with the family and eat whatever I'm making, don't you think? And no I haven't been too strict or anal about it. Most of the time I do ask him what he wants for dinner, out of some selection of foods (because my husband is at work a lot during dinner time, so we don't have big meals anyway). But if I did that all the time and let him have ANYTHING, probably 8 times out of 10 he would eat bread for dinner.
I do believe a relaxed approach to sweets is best. Usually I don't mention or display them, but if he asks, I let him have something. He doesn't have too much of a sweet tooth. It's more bread, with him. At some point I have to draw the line.
REAL men don't eat quiche.
But I don't know why. It's very tasty.
Whoever keeps saying women don't like red meat ought to be shot. My daughter and I live for steak. We eat beef pretty much every day (grass fed cow and seafood are the only sustainably raised meats here, and seafood ain't cheap).
How's that for gender foods?
Still biting fingers while waiting for hubby to get home. I'm thinking about going back to Paleo for population control.
Matt, can you share more of your experience (per a recent comment) of feeling better with less juice and more whole fruit?
I went through a gallon of OJ a few weeks ago (a pint as a between-breakfast-and-lunch snack)–first juice in years and I loved it. Haven't bought it since because I got 'scared' of too many calories without fiber, but I've been finding myself thinking about it and craving it. Guess I have a conflict between intuition and information (your experience plus all my pro-whole-food bias) here!
Lorelei, can't you do something better/more pleasurable with your fingers than bite them? ;) I hope your hubs gets home soon.
I've eaten red meat less than a dozen times in my life, and hated it every time. My mom doesn't eat it either, but my dad and brothers adore it, so I grew up with that bias. But I had a girlfriend in college who almost literally only liked to eat (red) meat. And my husband's best (guy) friend's favorite food is quiche. I always fix it for them when he visits, and always get a giggle at the idea about 'real men' not liking quiche, as they're plenty 'real' as men.
Ela, since I don't know any of you from Jack, I can freely admit that on top of jumping hubby every time he walks in the door, "that" is the only way I'm staying sane right now :). Otherwise I'd be a puddling of twitching goo on the floor. I have never had a biological imperative this strong until about six months ago. And I honestly hadn't even realized I had completely lost the drive while low carb (hyperchondria?). It just came back BAM!! one month. How do teenage boys stand it? Of course, in a few days, ovulation will be over and I'll be back to wondering why my husband can't just cuddle. Funny how forgetful we are.
Matt,
Better stop dabbling in that RBTI stuff. Likely to get you into trouble. Corn oil for healing. Hmmph! :P
If you haven't already wait until you run into Reams talking about how he cured some folks of sugar issues by feeding them ice cream and pie. :-)
Haha! The numbers don't lie.
Aajonus (who, IIRC, claims to have cured some diabetics by feeding them lots of honey), would be proud.
Lorelei,
When I read your "still biting fingers" comment, I was going to say basically the same thing that Ela said but she beat me to it lol!
Nicely done, Ela! :-)
AS–thank you! I seem to recall you commenting another time about great minds and thinking alike…
Lorelei, it doesn't sound like that bad of a problem to have!
Ela,
LOL! Yes we do! :-) And you're right, it's definitely not a problem!
Lorelei,
I was gonna remind ya that you can also improvise by "benefiting from technology" – and don't forget the 'rechargeable' batteries-wink! But I definitely understand that the real thing is so much better! :-)
I'm sure your hubby's lovin' it!
On the topic of "fast metabolism", one can also speculate that overactive resting metabolic rate also ages you faster (like putting more miles on a car). This has been seen in studies such as this:
"The study further strengthens the theory that the faster an animal's metabolism, the shorter its life, and vice versa, said Mario Pinto, the study's lead author. The thyroid releases hormones that regulate metabolic rate.
"Thyroid hormones are key regulators of metabolism and have been widely implicated to influence longevity,""
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061010022316.htm
Obviously eating less helps, but also increasing the quality of what you eat makes it possible to be healthy. Perhaps that is the real regulation of body weight set point.
Find me people living long and healthy on 5000 calories a day, as I have yet to see such a culture.
Also an interesting related article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-fuhrman-md/metabolism-aging_b_870845.html
Mike-
I see the sciencedaily article differently.
They noted that "T4 levels varied significantly between all of the groups" and "However, because T3, levels did not differ significantly among all the groups, further research in this area using larger sample sizes"
If you have high T4, but average T3 this may indicate you are probably converting T4 into rT3 (reverse T3) since T4 is only converted into either T3 or rT3. Since rT3 blocks T3 by binding to the same receptor, you have a lower effective metabolic rate than what T4 or T3 might suggest. So T4 and T3 although an OK proxy for metabolism, does not totally tell you what your metabolic rate is, or even your total thyroid function.
My T4 and T3 are near the top of the standard lab reference range, yet I wake up with an oral tempurature of 96.4f-97.1f and have most sympthoms of hypothyroid. Why? rT3 is sky-high.
Yeah, how 'bout that acne? Is it omega 6, PUFAs in general, sugar, or something else?
Lots of people say it's sugar. My brother says soda makes him break out, and avoiding it seems to be working for him. But me, I had acne when I was completely fructose free for about 3 months. Some have said fish oil pills– no, I had it then too.
I'm tempted to say it's just stress. Like, really severe stress, which is a state that I have always been in, unfortunately.
Another thing that has completely worked for my brother is Accutane. I assumed that it is like a very high dose of vitamin A, since the structure is basically the same, and it has some of the same side effects: severe drying of skin, and possible liver damage. Combined with Ray Peat recommending vit A for acne in his latest interview, I got excited about vit A… but, while indeed making my skin less inflammation-prone, it has not stopped the acne from forming beneath the surface. Also, Chris Masterjohn cites some good evidence that Accutane in fact creates a vitamin A deficiency in this article: http://www.westonaprice.org/mentalemotional-health/1571-pursuit-of-happiness. So I am just confused.
Is it still the low amounts of PUFA in my not-too-optimal diet? Like Matt, I've been doing this for a while now, and I'm inclined to think not.
There's no question I feel better with more omega-6. I started eating some again and I don't think i will stop doing it !!
Martin V.
Jared Bond, This past couple weeks, I have tried a low fat. Theory being stored PUFA would be released. Well my acne is much worse and my basal has dropped from 97.2 to 96.8 in that short time.
So either stored PUFA's are being released flaring acne (inflammation, insulin resistance…), and inhibited thyroid (lowered basal). OR the lack of Sat fat is depressing the metabolism.
One year of low PUFA intake has not really made a difference, so I suspect that it could be stored PUFA's that are the issue for some.
Martin V., I hope that in the long run that the omega-6 doesn't affect you adversely. How are you upping the intake? Whole food omega-6? Nooooo margarine!
Hi there.
I've been reading 180 health for a while, never commented before.
I think I agree that I should leave everything I've been reading so far outside my kitchen. Since I started reading about health and nutrition I think I've becoming too focused on it and start eating more nuts and nut butters which are really not part of my culinary tradition.
Two days ago I tried for the first time to fry some green peppers in refined coconut oil (kokovita for Europeans), what is a generally luscious food with the fantastic olive oil mouth feel was completely flat. Where I'm from we use for everything extravirgin olive oil. I buy from a friend, not Bertolli. Americans are afraid to cook and especially to fry with EVOO, I don't think on the mediterranean we did too bad on it…
As for children, Matt I think as others have said it's not so easy.
My older child is almost 4, still breastfeed :-), he in never been spoon fed. He weaned on solids on his own, what he wanted, when he wanted. He could barely stand on his own and I put him by the sink to was vegetables with me. He adored mackarel and sardines. Now it's not so easy. Now I have an hard time cooking one meal for everybody, he doesn't eat the most of the food I would cook for me and my husband and as Tierney said, I'd like him to join with the family meal, at least for dinner. I graduated at the FCI, food is so important to me, I alway thought my child would eat everthing. That's not the case and although I don't ask him to finish his food (my husband, born under communism, sometimes does), I do worry when he doesn't proper food for days and keep eating just dry fruits or salame.
You know there's a bunch of FHENPG's (freakin health nerd pansy guy) around when they don't even notice 3 women talking about…….well, just read it.
I don't know anything about this health crap but I do remember my eyes welling up when the heli blew up #5. Having the same name, I always felt a connection to him.
Matt,about your comment on how you feel great on pure fruit and just lose that effect when you add something to it.I did a couple of fruit weeks a few weeks back and can say that I felt amazing when on just fruit to the point that I was telling people about it.Add some meat and would feel like crap with chest pains and blood sugar issues suddenly.Question is why is fruit alone great.
First off I wanna say that for yrs I have been thinking that maybe we were made to eat foods separately.Something kept telling me that mixed meals just do not work well.Meat and potatoes….nah I feel sick with chest pains and BS issues also.I was all along thinking it was just that the body uses insulin effectively when either carbs or protein are injested alone since they both use it to be absorbed.But it dawned on me that it could be the fat that comes with the meat or that is added in.
So now what I think is happening is that the body runs efficiently when it has one fuel source and having two clogs the circulatory system.Kwasnieski stated that he felt that is Optimal diet is best but that you can get excellent results by following the Japanese diet….high carb with very lean meats.
So I tried one morning to supplement a fatfree whey shake with my fruit and never got that ill effect.I tried many meals lowfat with very lean proteins and same thing.Would love to see the many peeps here experiment and see if they get same result.I do wanna add that I feel I have a lot of calcification in my veins so that while mixed meals give me chest pains,someone with clean veins will not get that feeling.
As for myself I do better with fat I am now back to Optimal diet with a twist.In past I have tried to do it but adding in carbs here and there for workouts.But the thing is that the Optimal diet gets your body into ketosis where fat is fuel and it just causes the issues I explain about above having carb refeeds a few times per week.
What do you guys think about that?If you do high carb get very little fat….and if you do low carb get very little carbs.Pick one and stick with it for optimal benefits………..
I doubt acne has much to do with PUFA, I have seen plenty of people who eat junk with 0 acne. My blood omega 3/6 ratios are pretty much optimal, but that didn't stop me from breaking out in the past with sugar.
I'd be willing wager gut issues are the more likely culprit: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038963/#B9
Interesting article, Yves. It's funny how no matter the diet, I've had uniformly good digestion yet uniformly bad acne. Could be that I have gut issues that I can't notice. Could be stress. Could be that I just need to go zero-PUFA for x years.
reading about health has become so boring…i need a beer.
Jared Bond –
In my later teen years I did two rounds of accutane, and it completely cleared up my acne for 3 years solid. Then, all of a sudden it started up again and hasn't abated since.
As Yves mentioned, there are plenty of people who eat horribly and have great skin. Seems like such a complicated problem!
Does milk cause acne? I just saw an article online citing various studies that link milk drinking with acne. Seems like a lot of Peat followers develop acne, and drinking milk is a big part of that program.
I have never had acne in my life. I also never drank milk during my childhood or adulthood until just a few months ago, except once in a blue moon, with a piece of cake or cookies. I did notice in the past few months, since drinking milk every day, my skin has become much oilier.
Just makes me wonder…
http://www.naturalnews.com/024613_milk_acne_blood.html
This site is about upping all the hormones to the maximum for health.When your in your teens and have raging hormones what do you also haveI notice that many people who are healthy and remain young looking have adult acne…..just saying;)
Matt – that comment about how kids say that all their Mums talk about is food really struck a nerve here. I fit the bill! it is a big part of my life, with some of my work revolving around food activism, and my other non work food related pursuits (this website!) I really hope that my daughter develops a healthy 'non' attachment to food. Though I would never have the courage to go with the approach you did with the 5 year old you were with, though I completely get it – I just could not do it. Having just today witnessed my daughter gorge herself at a pink princess 6 year old bday party – I have my doubts. However she also tidied off a big bowl of steamed sweet potatoe, brocoli and carrots when she got home – ahhh – that feels better!
Off topic – I've taken a suggestion from Matt (from last year, I think) about using sour cream instead of mayo in potato salad. Along with a bit of mustard (regular, not Dijon, for me) and some chopped sweet onion, and hard-boiled eggs, it is so good!
Meighen
Johnny wrote:
"You know there's a bunch of FHENPG's (freakin health nerd pansy guy) around when they don't even notice 3 women talking about…….well, just read it."
I just love Johnny! Yep, I was thinkin' the same thing. Glad a guy said it LOL! :-)
Johnny wrote:
"I don't know anything about this health crap but I do remember my eyes welling up when the heli blew up #5. Having the same name, I always felt a connection to him."
I love Johnny 5 too…
Johnny 5: [as John Wayne] "Ah don't worry little lady, I'll fix their wagon."
:-)
Okay, I'm gonna shut up now and go enjoy the holiday festivities. Hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend! :-)
1. It takes 4 to 5 years to reduce your tissue PUFA concentrations to match your dietary intake. I think people are being very unrealistic with their expectations.
2. Wolfstriked and Undertow and Matt Stone may be on to something with the fruit/low-fat idea. Ray Peat stated that the short chain fatty acids in coconut oil compete with PUFAs to be the energy source. I'm thinking that eating a high saturated fat diet may actually CONSERVE PUFAs. I'm not sure about this, but from reading some of your comments and my own personal experience it is looking rather probable.
Form my own experience my skin has cleared up a great deal since starting on probiotics. For 3 months straight i had 2 caps a day (total of 28 milion bacteria) and after that I could eat most foods and food combination without the slightest problems. Before I had something close to IBS and could only eat certain foods.
Now I take one tablett (that contain more than 10 million bacteria, which is a must) occationally especially if I've had some food containing any sort of additives wether natural or synthetic (we don't have nearly as many or as nasty here in Sweden as you guys have in the states..) and my brakeouts are few, usually only two or three zits around PMS period and sometimes not even that. Pre-probiotics I didn't have bad acne but at least 5-6 zits that came and went especially after eating pretty much anything.. It annoyed the crap outta me and I now truly believe that a healthy gut flora is imperative, especially after doing some research on pubmed… ^_^
reading about health has become so boring…i need a beer."
amen.
good thing from my perspective
Anonymous – Probiotics, which kind are you taking, I have tried rounds of lacto, and earth(dirt) based, but never really seemed to help. Maybe it is a longterm project too!
Chris Masterjohn,
The EFA deficiency/sucrose connection was golden. Still reading about it and I'll be checking out your blog. Thanks!
Anonymous, that's interesting about the probiotics. I know (from poop test) that my gut currently isn't growing any of its own good bacteria, and I've been taking probiotics for years, so I almost wonder whether taking them _isn't_ helping my gut to do its own thing.
Right now, I'm taking a megadose (200 billion daily) for a little while, and am intending to research to find out what are the best foods to feed good bugs.
I imagine that if you feed them, they'll stick around. I think Matt has some old posts about this on here.
Interesting connection by Woldfstriked between high hormones and acne: I made that same connection myself recently, the comparison with teenagers. I was thinking more about all the changes happening in teenagers' lives, going from my observation that I tend to breakout more whenever there's some 'change' going on, whether it's time of the month, tweaking my diet, travel, or whatever.
Ela-
I think any form of sugar yields a greater feeling of vitality for a lot of people. Juice, whole fruit, or otherwise. I do tend to gain weight with lots of juice in my diet and lose it with lots of whole fruit in my diet. I think this is pretty common too.
Juice registers as superior to the reward centers of our brains because it is more calorie dense, sweeter, and absorbs faster. That doesn't make it better. I always think back to the gorillas in captivity who went to eating less calorie dense food and lost weight and reversed heart disease, yet were complaining in the beginning that they couldn't eat their more calorie dense dry biscuits.
But whole fruits are awesome if you don't eat a lot of dried fruit and juice. Eat a lot of dried fruit and juice and whole fruit becomes a lot less appealing. I think it's just all relative, and most traditional human diets and culinary customs have all been about maximizing calorie density, sweetness, and flavor intensity while reducing water content, fiber, and other things that make the food less stimulating. This doesn't mean that it's a good thing. All other creatures seem to do fine without any knowledge of cooking, food preparation, or French sauces.
Wolfstrike-
Who knows. I do think there are clear advantages to eating a diet with great regularity – which the body thrives on. There are probably advantages to eating mono meals or just one food or one type of food at meals as well, in a conversation about what is truly "optimal."
But I have always been somewhat hung up on the fact that eating that way makes your digestion weaker, your blood sugar regulation poor, and resilience to normal, mixed meals served at social gatherings or restaurants a lot more problematic.
Eat a fruit diet for long enough and you will literally get sick eating a few slices of pizza that normally you would have felt fine eating. It's a major Catch-22. Same if you eat Kwasniewski for a while and then have a fruit binge. You are likely to once again have major hypoglycemia, diarrhea, and make yourself sick.
If I had to pick (personally), from a health perspective, between Kwasniewski and a mostly fruit diet, it would be an easy decision. On the optimal diet I have bad body odor, poor exercise performance and recovery, bad breath, lots of tooth pain, major chest pains, and so on. I have none of these problems eating a high fruit diet. You could call it the "more optimal diet."
Rennae-
Oh you could totally do it. It's quite amazing. Most kids self-regulate their food intake phenomenally well – much better than any adult health nerd could ever aspire to. And it happens so quickly.
I use a lot of psychology with it too. Neutrality is the key to good self-regulation. Food is not reward. Food is not entertainment. Most kids, once you remove that gunk, would rather play than eat – no matter how cracked out the food is. The girl I fed for a couple of months got to the point where she would ask for ice cream late at night just so she could stay up a little longer, but she never ate any of it.
With my niece I use a lot of reverse psychology because my sister interferes with her eating dramatically, and is a classic case of a mom that always talks about food. That's actually why I mentioned that line because my niece said to one of her friends one time, "Does your mom always talk about food too?"
So last night we were plowing a Ben n' Jerry's ice cream cake at a birthday party and I told her she had to eat all her frosting or I wasn't going to let her have any broccoli as a joke. She was like, "you're weird uncle Matt." True.
the thing is, if i were to give it a go, would have to fill the house with 'junk' and she would think I have gone quite mad. but i know i have already filled her head with a lot of !*&%ed up ideas on food, and she really does think of 'junk' food as a reward and entertainment. this was confirmed recently when i bought her a bag of plastic playfood, and she divided it up into the fruit and veg shop, the deli stuff, the bakery, then the 'junk food' shop where she put the ice-cream cones, pizza, pies, and even cookies and cakes. I said to her, just because these foods are a treat doesn't mean they are junk food, her reply, 'yes mummy, to me a kid, junk food IS a treat, and i love it.' Anyway this may also be her natural rebellion to my ideas, which is good for her. yesterday i was also eating some ice-cream straight from the tub, I offered her some and she was not interested, so she does obey her hunger queues still – it is more the IDEA of it all, she is infatuated with.
Charles Peden,
Thanks. You are correct about tissue saturation, and yes coconut oil can conserve tissue PUFA relative to carbohydrates or long-chain fats, although not relative to actually consuming PUFA. As a result, use of a coconut-based diet following years of a PUFA-based diet could theoretically result in transient relative vitamin E deficiency for several years until adipose PUFA levels normalize.
Chris
Thanks, Matt–I wasn't sure if you saw that question re juice (reduce/redux ;) ). That makes sense.
I've been eating mostly whole fruit (and some whole veg), and never desire a large amount of juice. However, I went and bought that gallon of OJ (organic not from concentrate) because I couldn't stop thinking about it, including laying awake hungry at night thinking about it. I've had a cup or two per day the two days it's been here, am really enjoying it but not going crazy for it–no reason it should make me blimp up, right ;)
on attitudes to food…
to share some pearls of wisdom from my dear ol' mum – 'i have been on a diet ever since I was 18, its really simple, you just keep your mouth shut' (lol then cringe) and also, the classic, 'you should always get up from the dinner table feeling like you could eat just a little bit more', and 'you should always go to bed just a little bit hungry'.
this along with both of my parents infatuation with the latest health wave (pritikan, atkins you name it) and the result is a very disordered approach to eating that I now really want to stop handing down to next generation. there are so many mixed messages out there about food and fat – it is so hard!
I have to get rid of these words like 'special treat' from my vocab when it comes to food, it is framing it all wrong.
rant over.
MATT-
About body odor -I have noticed that I for the first time in my life, I can actually smell my sweat?! It's after introducing sugar to my diet. I'm thinking it has something to do with my "transition" and androgens
-Did I just put androgens and transition in the same sentence?? Ok, go ahead Mr. Stone, make a funny on my expense…
Btw, are you gonna make a post about BAT fat (brown adipose tissue) and WAT fat (white adipose tissue)? anytime soon? Pretty please!
CHRIS MASTERJOHN-
Is it at all possible for PUFA's to be in muscle tissue also?
Sheila, yes, though the researchers who studied this back in the day thought that adipose tissue was the main "sink" for vitamin E when PUFA levels are saturated.
Chris
I see your point and agree that the body seems to adapt and possibly work better when you eat the same thing day in and out.In regards to Kwasnieski,I feel great but find that my sex drive suffers in an old man type of way.I am 40yrs old and have a sex drive but unfullfilling orgasms.
So yesterday at 5pm I decide to test a high sugar diet….again :) to see if it trully does make for better sex I noticed in past.I ate lowfat ice cream and drank alot of pepsi cola.Sugar is sugar right….lol well I don't know about that because today,on my way home from work I felt so bad.Gout flaring up and body aches all over………BUT then something happened.
…………………………….
WARNING GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF SEX ORGANS LAY AHEAD…….I MEAN IT SO IF SEX TALK DISTRUBS DO NOT READ………………………………….
I just had sex.My erection was on par with the Enzyte sex vitamin concoction(visually bigger with veins everywhere) and my orgasm was mind blowing with alot of spunk like I didnt blow for a week.WTF is that….reminds me of my drug using days where the sex was amazingly good but the body was falling apart.Same with alcohol for me where the next day I wanna crawl away and drown in my sorrows but then have amazing SEX!!!
So right now I am eating potatoes to maybe reset……will I become a Pepsi junkie now for sex :(
Wolfstriked-
same for me. sugar just does something that starch doesn't. all kinds of improvements. btw juicing a potato will give you most of the nutrients minus the starch and fibre. potato juice + pepsi = win?
Terpol,its a winning combo mate!Its kinda crazy and I had 3 love sessions errrr I mean I screwed my GF 3 times yesterday…..at 41;) Now the question remains….is the high fructose corn syrup really bad for your health.I feel alot better today on fruit again.
actually for me its sugar in addition to starch/fat/protein that works best. i think maybe fructose helps the body use glucose or something like that. protein + starch and sugar works well for me too. enough sugar and i have no desire for fat. i've tried fruit alone but crave starch pretty quick but fruit + starch feels good.
i've just stuffed myself with rice and strawberries and i feel fucking amazing. could be onto something here haha
@terpol
Will you give us a recap on how you've been losing fat and an update on your fat-loss progress please? Are you still losing fat? Please give us examples of what you mean by,
"for me its sugar in addition to starch/fat/protein that works best."
AND
"protein + starch and sugar works well for me too."
What are you eating?
Also has the addition of sugar affected your fat loss one way or the other? Or is sugar just increasing energy for you?
i lost fat by basically eating high protein/carb and as low fat as comfortable for a few days and one or more days eating more fat/calories. i'm under 10% bf and about as lean as i'll get without conscious restriction and more exercise. i eat more or less the same way now but more relaxed with macros, generally IF
high protein/carb and low fat days were usually potatoes/fish/cottage cheese. refeed days were meat/rice/pasta with lots of fat, ice cream. anything really. i only avoided veg oils etc. didn't seem to matter if i ate a lot of ice cream/sweets on these days, and i always did want to eat sugar. i think that maybe the sheer amount of calories or even a little fat gain makes the fat loss easier. i guess your body won't think youre starving if you gain a little fat frequently.
on fat loss days i would eat to appetite which usually ended up being IF, first meal around noon. also a cold shower and coffee after waking just to help fat loss. you must be careful with these because they can wear you out if youre not careful. they are not necessary, just helpful. workouts usually fasted the day after a refeed. short and intense. fat loss days plenty of general moving around walking etc
the key is to experiment and find what works for you. i don't have a pattern. a refeed day might be around 5k calories (just a guess i dont count calories), next day 1k, next day i might want mostly fruit. one week 2 refeed days wednesday and sunday. another week 4 in a row. next post
i am pretty certain i have some sort of cortisol problem, more hypothalmus/pituitary than adrenal, constantly fluctuating temp, ice cold or too hot, can't sweat and more. had this since i was a child, never changes. haven't sorted this out yet cause my mind is jelly at best most of them time. ANYWAY. i seem to have damn good thyroid function so i can do all of the above easily as long as i don't overdo fasting/exercise, although i know pretty quickly if do (extremely cold/bad thoughts). calories are my best friend when it comes to feeling good. i guess they lessen the negative effects of low cortisol in my particular situation
i thought sugar did something special for me but i think really its just that i feel best when i eat a ton of calories and icecream and other sugary things are usally involved. i felt really warm and happy and clear headed when i wrote those last 2 posts but that feeling comes around occasionally. nothing to do with sugar in particular
if you have the opposite problem of high cortisol and stress then i think sugar and starch are the way to go. and rest, very important
hope some of that helped
I am opposite in that my thyroid is sluggish.Found an article that says carbs are superior to fat for bumping thyroid but that fat does bump it.I am back to Optimal diet again.I eat two meals per day same thing at each meal.
half stick butter
4eggs
1 slice swiss
20gms in potatoes/corn
I love these meals and I just slather it in this Asian hotsauce I get in a specialty market….so goood!!I also eat those small bags of nut mixes so around another 500 to 700cal.
Ok,what I haven't mentioned is that I have been eating twice the calorie level as before and all of a sudden the thyroid meds I am on are now working.I found this post from blogger Anthony Colpo where he says that overfeeding bumps up thyroid and underfeeding knocks it right down where the body can't convert the T4 to T3.No wonder the T4 I was taken wasn't doing anything at all.
Its a good read and explains alot of what Matt pushes with the overeating aspect.And sex is not as enjoyable today….WTF!!!!
"And sex is not as enjoyable today….WTF!!!!"
Honeymoon's over…
@terpol
Yes it was really helpful thanks!! I have a few questions. That's close to how I eat. Not on purpose, I just don't usually get hungry until about noon. And I like and eat lots of cottage cheese, potatoes, rice, tilapia and salmon. I like to eat my fish raw. I've always loved sashimi and sushi. With salmon being a fattier fish, should I save it for re-feed days or is it low enough in fat for low fat days?
How do you cook your potatoes? Just boil them in water? I usually throw potatoes in for the last few minutes in a pot I've been boiling some kind of boney meat (shanks, neckbones, etc.) for couple hours. The fat pretty much boils out of the meat and I eat the meat and the potatoes. But do you think the potatoes absorb too much fat from the fat in the water? I also like potatoes just boiled in water and sea salt (when not in mood for the meat). And I've found that I like potatoes cold. They just tastes better after they cool off for some reason??
Also, do you eat zero fat cottage cheese or just low fat? How low? I prefer the 4% fat Daisy brand cuz nothing added and taste better. I like the 2% Daisy too, but it has added vitamin A which I'd rather pass on. Do you think the 4% is too high fat?
I love the taste of coffee too. I only have 1 cup in the morning cuz never been big on caffeine, I just like the taste of coffee. Do you put cream or half and half in your coffee? I like half and half in mine. Do you think that's too much fat? I typically don't eat my first meal until about noon.
I'm not good with macro percentages. It's hard to wrap my head around what is low fat (enough) in the context of the rest of the meal. I've never been a calorie or macro-nutrient counter. I realize I need to experiment and find my sweet spot but hopefully those answers from your experience will give me a good place to start from and a better mental image of the ratios.
Thanks again for your help!!
Question for anyone, what does it mean if you get sleepy after a meal? Sometimes that happens to me, usually after fruit and/or starch but don't think it happens with protein.
wolfstriked-
eating enough calories to get your thyroid functioning well is most important whether its from fat or carbs. once you are functioning better i would think you'd tolerate carbs better but theres no real reason to try and eat mostly carbs. everyone is different.
and sex 3 times in 1 day takes some time to recover from. more carbs maybe haha. get some glycogen in there
foodie-
i generally aimed for <30grams of fat (which takes a while to get used to). depending on activity and how much you have to lose you could probably eat a good bit more and still lose fat at a good rate. at first 60g per day is as low as you like, then a month later 30g is comfortable. some fruit also makes low fat easier. i would try to eat to 80% full each meal. important to eat enough in the evening so you sleep well. pictures are the best way to track fat loss
the only thing i counted was fat. potatoes, rice, white fish have no fat. half a pot of cottage cheese has 5g. egg yolk 5g. eat 10-20g fat per meal and carb and protein to appetite.
i either bake or boil potatoes, steam/boil fish. lean meat is just as good. cold potatoes have more resistant starch therefore more satisfying which is good. cold potatoes and boiled fish, trying overeating that haha. i also eat a lot of powdered gelatin (have a big bag of it). i think i generally end up around equal protein/carbs. when eating low calorie like this i feel better with high protein.
i can eat what and when i want so its easy for me to eat like this. it is a lame way of eating but it does work and the idea is that it is temporary.
it does work IF it is comfortable and you listen to your body. if its 10pm and you cant sleep and crave ice cream then eat it. if you still want to eat loads the next day then do, you were low calorie a bit too long. you quickly get better attuned to your hunger and know when youre ok with low calorie and when you really need a couple days of serious eating. "junk food" can be very useful on these days for enough calories
i'd say skip the cream. caffeine, like cold showers, increases adrenaline which increases fat burning which combined with walking and not eating for a few hours can really help fat loss. however this + low calories can really wear me out so you have to be careful. i did coffee but cold showers made me ice cold for hours after. i usually have cold extremities anyway despite high temp (lack of cortisol) so again you gotta experiment for yourself.
i think being sleepy is high blood sugar or carbs lowering cortisol. more protein with a meal generally helps this
@terpol
Great that helps a lot!! I forgot to mention that I eat a lot of fruit too. Sounds like this will be pretty easy for me cuz I like eating this way anyway. I just need to be sure to re-feed. I think I will skip the coffee though cuz I don't really like coffee without half and half haha.
I really appreciate your help!!
If low fat and high carb is the way to lose fat, how do people lose weight on low carb? People eat lots of fat on low carb. I'm not pro low carb or anything and wouldn't ever low carb. I'm just trying to understand how people can eat so much fat and lose weight on low carb??? Anybody?
@confused
There is nothing magical about eating less carbs (and with that, some more fat)
All that matters are calories in vs out. Fat is genereally more satiating without the presence of carbs so you eat fat and protein, and you stay full longer and "like magic" you eat less.
Now that was the simple explanation.
But nothing about the human body is simple.
Plenty of people don't lose weight eating low carb, some gain weight, and some lose first and then gain. Now, that was the long, more complicated explanation which I'm sure you'll come to understand once you've studied cellbiology at some university for a few years, or just simply read through matt's free ebook, or, or, send him an email >_O
However, if you do eat more than you burn off, you will not lose weight no matter what you eat (or don't eat)…
I did write a totally awesome long answer that covered a lot but DANG YOU, PREVIEW BUTTON, DANG YOU, YOU EFFING ERRORED AWAY MY REPLY AND PO'D ALT+L-ARROW SO IT REFUSED TO BRING BACK MY REPLY!!!!
I loathe technology… >_<
And now this dumbarse read the question again and saw it was HIGH CARB low fat that confised was confused about, amongst other….
Well, my answer is the same.
But nothing about the human body is easy.
What's fortunate about carbs is that they help recover from [any type of] stress, and once your leptin is working its magic you'll feel full, satiated and have no craving for sweets while eating high carb despite lower kCal. In other words, you won't get hungry!!
AND, of course, as stated above, you'll be able to eat less, hence lose weight, but also exercise without burning yourself out, recover faster from exercise and so forth.
But just like any other diet, it's imperative to:
1) eat less than you need
2) refeed regularly (just like bodybuilders and others has done for ages)
3) Start eating as much as you need again after, say, 3 months of dieting (fith refeeds) to let the body recover, wait a few months, then go for another few months of dieting.
But, people are people, and what do people want?
They want money, so they come up with stupid arse diets drop 30 lbs in 5 days – for GOOD.
And people are also lazy by nature, and want to put the least effort into something as possible, hence "I've tried every 2-week-diet on the planet and I still haven't lost weight" type of mentality….
If you're not losing, you're eating too much (even if that means mere 700 kCal/day). BUT, if you're broken (like, eating 700 kCal/day), you need to fix yourself first.
Fuuuudge me sideways….
Nerdin' for a whole day might mess up the eyesight – brains communication severely.
Or, or, I've lost my ability to read and interpret what I've read.
Oh, wait, isn't that just the same as I just stated above?
I'm outta here!
*poof*
The meaning of the phrase “ice cream” varies from one country to another. Phrases such as “frozen custard”, “frozen yogurt”, “sorbet”, “gelato” and others are used to distinguish different varieties and styles. In some countries, such as the United States, the phrase “ice cream” applies only to a specific variety, and most governments regulate the commercial use of the various terms according to the relative quantities of the main ingredients.