Hola and Welcome!
If you are reading this post, it means you’ve wandered into Nerdville. Welcome! And I warn you now, prepare to open your eyes. Wide. Prepare to suspend disbelief. Prepare to run screaming in denial from time to time. Prepare to say nuh-uh. Cuz it’s gonna happen. I guarantee it. Just remember to keep the comments civil.
In Nerdville, there will be no Nerd Alerts to caution you of potential rough water ahead. It’s an adventure you take one baby step at a time. Before you realize it, you’ve been eating “this way” for years and you look back and say to yourself, “What the hell was I thinking putting that in my body?”
So, thanks for your patience in waiting for this first, oh-so-important post for the Nerd Herd here in Nerdville. I’ve already told ya, I’m not only a member of the Nerd Herd. I’m the Nerd Herd president!
Cogitating Is Good!
I needed time to cogitate about this first post, because it felt very weighty and important. A first post has significance – meaning. It’s the cornerstone. The big toe. The big cheese. It’s all that and a ball of string!
Then, I forgot how to write, panic ensued, and St. Paddy’s day arrived. Of course that meant great low carb food and a shot of Bushmill’s along with a rousing night of Waking Ned Devine, Irish ditties from The Chieftains, and resounding bagpipes flooding the neighborhood from a friend of ours who made a CD of his bagpipe band. And if you’re my neighbor, thanks for not calling the poe-lice on us!
History Lesson
Instead of jumping right into the nutrition aspect of the blog, I decided to give you a brief walk through history. If you want the complete history of how we came to have one particular food paradigm upheld by our FDA and all the food producers in the nation along with several very official-sounding organizations, and a completely bass-ackward one held by me and many other “enlightened” folks round these parts, then go buy this book. And read it.
Buy the Gary Taubes book,
Good Calories, Bad Calories. It will rock your world. And if you can’t stand the thought of reading a book bigger than
War and Peace, then at least go buy the more user friendly book by the same author entitled,
Why We Get Fat. And read it.
But even before Gary Taubes came along with the incredible history of how we got here from there, there were trend-setting doctors who went out on a limb and took a chance. They took a chance on history. On the evolution of the species. And so far, history is proving their theories. You will slowly see the food business shift perspectives to align with them. It’s happening even as we sleep.
Perhaps the best known among these pioneers was the late
Dr. Robert Atkins. I warrant a guess that he’s had a greater impact on generations of men and women than any other doctor in the field of metabolism and bariatric medicine. I credit him with saving my life. I might not otherwise be here today if it wasn’t for his book of 11 years ago,
Dr.Atkin’s New Diet Revolution or DANDR for short.
In all these 11 years, I haven’t died from kidney failure. I haven’t had my liver shut down. I haven’t turned green or lost all my hair. Nor has my brain ceased functioning because of a lack of “carbs”. I haven’t lost all thyroid function…grown warts, started dancing nekkid under the full moon of the spring equinox, nor grown fangs and a mane.
But I have had my blood sugar go from 170+ after meals – down to normal post-prandial readings. Every day. All the time. As long as I follow my golden rule as a Type 2 (T2) diabetic: Eat To My Meter. I have lost 70 pounds. I do have better energy despite continuing to have sleep and breathing issues.
I probably eat more carbs than many of the more stringent and purist followers, but I know I eat fewer carbs than are recommended by the
ADA (American Diabetic Association). And I let my blood sugar meter guide me by telling me within a very small range, which foods I get to enjoy and which ones make my blood sugar go wild. I usually eat between 30-60g of carbs per day.
But I'm Not A Diabetic
If you are saying that to yourself right now, then You=Lucky! If you are reading this thinking it doesn't apply to you because you don't have T2 nor are you insulin impaired - or that you're at your ideal weight...well your premise is incorrect. Ayn Rand said in Atlas Shrugged, "There are no contradictions in life." I believe this is true. She said when you encounter a contradiction it's necessary to check your premise. It's usually the premise that is incorrect.
Everyone benefits by controlling their carbs. By controlling carbs, we take control of many different hormones in our bodies that program insulin as well as inflammatory responses - from our organs (like the pancreas and liver), but also in our muscle cells and yes, even our fat cells, veins, arteries, joints, brain, etc.
Insulin is one of the primary triggers for inflammation. In lab studies in rabbits where they injected insulin through an IV, you saw the veins turn sclerotic at the site of entry. It was the site of greatest insulin concentration and sclerosis is what happens to our arteries when the walls become damaged and collect pockets of plaque. And if you can control inflammation you can influence your body's immune response. Once you control the inflammation and immune response you are in the driver's seat
Congratulations! You now control the rate at which you get diseases of the Industrial World - diseases like atherosclerosis, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, insulin resistance, PCOS, Syndrome X, fatty liver, Cushing's, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, dementia diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, cancer, Lupus, Crones and many other disastrous conditions.
Inflammation is a key marker for every disease known to man. Wouldn't it be great to be able to predict how and if you get them? At least that way, you get to choose what you are and aren't willing to do in order to prevent their occurrence!
The Pioneers
Dr. Atkins was just the jump-off pioneer for me. He got me started. And as smart and in-tune as he was regarding diet and metabolism, I need more. My body was so beaten up from years of poor nutrition and disease progression, I didn't respond and lose the weight as it showed I should in theory.
So I read super star books like Dr. Richard K. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solutions, Drs. Mike and Mary Dan Eades' Protein Power Life Plan, Dr. Barry Groves' Eat Fat Get Thin, Dr. Eric Westman’s published studies over at Duke, Dr. William Davis’ breakthrough information on heart disease and tracking your plaque, Dr. Agatston over at South Beach , Dr. Loren Cordaine and his paleo nutrition and the latest of them, Dr. Kurt Harris and PaNu nutrition. I also keep up with the docs like Dr. Mary Vernon and Dr. Richard Feinman over at the Nutrition and Metabolism Society.
Add to these rugged, dauntless, low carb pioneers – information about natural foods – from Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon at the Weston A. Price Foundation. Great blogs from Peter at Hyperlipid, Stephan from Whole Health Source, and Chris Masterjohn over at the Daily Lipid and you have a good picture of who helped shaped my view on diet and optimal nutrition these past 11 years. (You can find all of the links to these informative sites if you scroll down on the
cool links page at
Fluffy Chix Cook.
My Personal Plan
Little by little, I put together a picture of my ideal diet. It’s a little bit from all of these massively knowledgeable people and their dietary advice. Then I combined it with the latest information about the SIRT 1 (longevity) gene and calorie restriction – enter Dr. Johnson with his
Alternate Day Diet.
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| Veggies to use in the recipes this week. |
So here’s my plan and it will be different from yours. We all must arrive at what works for our particular nutrient needs. It’s only enough protein to satisfy my bodily requirements. Proteins in any form, meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, you name it!
It’s enough veggies to satisfy hunger and the strong desire to chew. It’s a tiny bit of low glycemic, low fructose fruits and berries to satisfy my desire for sweet now and then, and plenty of good fats. Healthy fats. Fats at a good level and far higher than we’ve been programmed is “healthy.” And it's also calorie restriction to get that SIRT1 gene activated. Jeeze! Just take a look at all the veggies in our ice box right now. Does that look like someone who eats an imbalanced diet - as many of us are accused of eating, because of our low carb paradigm.
The good news is I’m still here. And I’m in better health than I’ve been in years.
Voila! After 11 short years of trial and error, I’m losing weight like a normal person who does not have T2, who isn’t metabolically impaired, who doesn’t have adrenal issues – about 2 to 3lbs per week, when I really work my plan. And what I’ve seen is even greater energy and stamina. Better sleep. Fewer asthma issues. Less pain.
Good stuff. These are all signs that I'm decreasing inflammation.
We're All At Our Own Point In The Journey
So what do you take away from this first post? A diet towards a new, healthier you exists – but it’s about evolution and baby steps and gradual adoption and changes. It’s about better choices. It's about adopting some of the tenets of a controlled carb eating plan and deferring others until you are in a position to adopt them, physically, mentally and emotionally.
But mostly…I’m just gonna say it - it's about changing one HUGE paradigm we've been programmed to believe for over 40 years. It's a doozy!
Don’t Fear The Fat.. Fat is Not the enemy!
