I consider myself an educated person. I consider myself a reasonable person. I consider myself a healthy person. However, there are times when I remain completely confused about what the hell to eat these days!
There are seemingly incredibly smart and convincing people out there who all firmly believe completely opposite things. Maddening! If we can put people IN SPACE, why don’t we know what we are supposed to eat? For every documentary or article that praises high fat, low carb there is another that praises vegan, no fat . Maddening!
So how do we dare go to our fridge and not have a panic attack? Well, I’m not sure. And if I was sure, I can guarantee that the evidence would change next week and I would revert to panic. But as far as I can tell by watching all these debates take place, I think we can conclude the following:
- It remains true that everybody is different. If you are not active, have an increased body mass index, and your main goal is to decrease your body weight quickly, then high fat, low carb / ketogenic might be for you. Maybe. If you are very active and a healthy body weight, then you likely have greater flexibility in how you chose eat and may find any one of several approaches (e.g. paleo, vegan, whole foods) works for you. Maybe.
- In the long game, moderation always wins. In considering #1, I think it is not helpful at all for proponents of these various diets to speak of them like they are the be all and end all. That is simply unproven. So it would be kinder to those people out there trying to navigate all the confusion if, when we spoke of different approaches, we could allow moderation. You can eat absolutely eat mostly vegan and have butter on your asparagus! You can absolutely eat mostly ketogenic and have some damn chickpeas!
- Real food is good no matter what. Pick food with one ingredient. Pick food that you know where it comes from and how it was grown or raised or processed. Make your own food. Prioritize growing, shopping, eating, preparing and enjoying your food. It is your fuel and the basis of your health. It is one thing that you can have complete control over.
- There is a lot to consider when you are choosing what food to eat. Just be conscious. Are you eating to simply find a number on the scale or to be healthy? Are you eating to feel good now or to maximize your longevity, avoid cancer and other chronic disease? Are you eating with your local environment in mind? With animal welfare in mind? With the global environment in mind?
There is also a lot of literature and propaganda out there around all of those topics. But I think if you keep it simple and be conscious of your goals then you can avoid nervous breakdown. Be realistic, practice moderation, and be kind to yourself. Eat real food and make your own meals and ENJOY the process of it all! Whether you choose to do your own thing or think of yourself as keto, or paleo, or vegan or whatever, increase your vegetables! Avoid sugar, sweeteners, white flour and other nutritionally devoid foods like the plague … but for pete’s sake, have a cupcake with your kid on their birthday! If you DO want to wade into the debates a bit, I have found these conversations the most enjoyable without causing utter despair:
https://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/what-should-we-eat
http://tim.blog/2017/05/04/smart-drugs-fasting-and-fat-loss/
And all that being said, don’t be scared, food is awesome! It should be embraced and enjoyed and savoured with the people you love around you. We are lucky we get the opportunity to choose! There is so much out there to explore and learn about how to fuel ourselves!
What brings us the most joy and health in our house these days is usually the amazing Angela Liddon and her glorious cookbooks, Oh She Glows. I have bought many a cookbook in my years but I have never used one so consistently as hers. There is nothing in them that isn’t amazing.
this page is also great:
https://www.thefullhelping.com
So off you go, and ENJOY!
Addendum ->
this is also very useful information:
https://www.podcastone.com/episode/Robert-Lustig