My nutritional paradigm recently shattered, and I am so
glad.
Very recently, having just graduated and received my certificate from the
T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies through Cornell University, I
was eager to take up a routine of plant-based eating. To the uninitiated, “plant-based” simply
means vegetarian, or for the more intensely-focused, vegan. Although I have been vegetarian in the past
(for 14 years!), I was easing myself back into it this time, operating as a
semi-vegetarian. I was just dipping my
toes into the routine not for lack of motivation, but simply to keep my
household from staging a mutiny against me.
I figured that if I threw a piece of fish or chicken their way twice a
week or so, they would not complain so loudly.
And naturally, when they realized how great they felt, they would want
to ramp up their dedication to a low-fat, plant-based lifestyle.
Except that’s not what happened.
We did everything exactly right. We had the loveliest lightly-steamed
vegetables, the crunchiest raw salads of many colors, a variety of earthy
legumes, and the stingiest smidgen of extra virgin olive oil here and there,
but nothing good was happening. First
of all, we were hungry all the time. At
least I was. I was going through fruit
like a spider monkey and I still couldn’t reach satiety. (Oh, and all that fructose passing my lips
earned me a remedial lesson about tooth decay from my dentist as he painfully
re-worked a deteriorating filling.)
When we couldn’t stand the gnawing feeling in the pit of our stomach we
would indulge in a “healthy” grain-based snack---some whole meal flaxseed chips
or a handful of granola. But I looked bloated and puffy and I felt bone-tired and hungry all the time.
Where was the easy, natural weight loss that was supposed to be happening? Where was the boundless vitality? It was very definitely NOT happening to me.
Although the plant-based diet was supposed to protect you
from a whole host of chronic diseases, I also couldn’t help but wonder why I sadly
watched no less than four semi-vegetarian friends succumb to cancer within the
last 2 years. And I began to remember
the pernicious anemia (B12 deficiency) and regular anemia (iron deficiency) I
would periodically have to manage during my previous incarnation as a
vegetarian. Meanwhile, all those jerks
who knew nothing about nutrition and just seemed to willy-nilly fill their
grocery carts with whatever, with nary a thought for their long-term health,
seemed to never so much as catch a cold, let alone suffer from a chronic
disease or deficiency.
But at a dinner party, I happened to have the good fortune
of being seated across the table from an intelligent, animated young man who
was on a ketogenic diet. He must have
commented on my plate as I sampled the salads being passed, and little
else. We began a four-hour conversation
on health and human nutrition. His
regimen, a ketogenic diet, is most easily explained as a high-fat, low-carb
diet. The ketogenic diet is like if you
took the Atkins Diet structure or the Paleo Diet structure, reduced the level
of protein and increased the fat and fibrous vegetable quotient. The diet encourages your body to remain in a
low level of ketosis, or a state where your body metabolizes fat for energy
instead of glucose. As far as logistics
go, the diet requires that you eschew all sweeteners, all grains/cereals, and
starchy vegetables (like potatoes or GMO corn).
It asks you to avoid high-glycemic fruits and vegetables (like
parsnips), as well as beans and legumes (the lectins in these foods cause them
to be metabolized more like a sugar than a protein).
I was incredulous that anyone would opt to nourish
themselves on a high-fat diet. Wasn’t
his serum cholesterol going to shoot through the roof? Wouldn’t his insides be covered in arterial
plaque? Wouldn’t he damage his kidneys? Wouldn’t his blood pressure skyrocket? When I fired these questions at him, he had
thoughtful, evidence-based answers to quell my incredulity. He gave me a list of things to read and
consider, so that I could fairly compare the ketogenic program to a plant-based
program. He did not give me fluff on
someone’s fitness blog…he referenced the work of medical doctors and the
National Institute of Health…like this 2004 NIH study linking the ketogenic
diet to reduced levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) and increased levels of HDL
(good cholesterol).
I was getting curious enough to try this guy's ketogenic diet, but based on what I
learned though the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, I was
committed to keeping my intake of plant-based foods high. After all, vegetables are where we get most
of our vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients that are so important to our
overall health starting at the cellular level.
So I made up the following rules for my own experiment with the
ketogenic diet:
- No processed food. Ever. Period. No exceptions.
- Breakfast and lunch will usually be vegetarian and include a healthy fat.
- Dinner can be whatever meats or vegetables your heart desires, but meat shall never be over 5oz. WEIGH IT. 5 oz. Only. The rest of the meal should include lots of healthy fats. (My rule to regulate protein is based on the evidence gathered by T. Colin Campbell linking excessive protein intake to certain cancers. A moderate level of protein is, however, absolutely biologically necessary.)
- Do something active for 20 minutes every day. Every day. Period. I don’t care what it is, just pick something and do it.
- Drink 2 liters of water a day. Flush out those toxins.
I literally posted my “rules” on the fridge and at my desk
to scold myself into compliance, except I have not needed the prodding. Increasing fat has led to a level of satiety
that is so body-and-soul-satisfying that I have had zero desire to stray or
cheat. I have also experienced positive
results that I will outline shortly but still, it has been hard to shake the
ideas that the media, USDA, and health-businesses have indoctrinated all of us
with. Ideas like: “Fat is bad,” “Eat plenty of whole grains every day,” and “You can’t have too much fruit.” Despite the fact that those ideas create
within most of us an insulin response that keeps us clinging to extra pounds
and forever fighting internal inflammation, we have these messages ingrained in
our minds.
I am no exception. I
was very nervous about potentially playing Russian roulette with my health in order
to try a diet. So I have read the work
of important nutrition-oriented biomedical researchers and I have closely
monitored my health vitals. Within days
on the diet, the bloated look in my face and body disappeared, and the extra
pounds I had picked up over the holidays began to disappear effortlessly. I also began to feel a more even and steady
level of energy throughout the day.
After about a month, I have lost
3 points on the body mass index. My
blood pressure is 112/74. My resting
heart rate is 70. My total blood
cholesterol remains around 150, with an excellent ratio of HDL (“good”
cholesterol).
I will, of course, continue to pay close attention to these
statistics as I remain on the ketogenic diet and I would encourage anyone else
curious to try it to do the same, as well as checking with their health care
provider before forging ahead. The diet
can change insulin requirements for diabetics, it can change medication
requirements for hypertensives, and it may be all wrong for someone already
suffering from heart disease, kidney problems, or other chronic
conditions. I recognize that individual
needs may not make this regimen right for the masses.
But DO recognize that much of the nutrition information with
which we are pummeled by the media and wellness outlets is flat-out wrong. But very few people want to move off of the perceived
safety of the prevailing paradigm. My
advice is to try some different programs. Try vegetarianism. Listen carefully to your body for a month or
two. Have your health levels checked. Try a ketogenic or a low-carb program for a
while. Listen again and check those
levels again. Listen to your body before you listen to the
dogma on the TV talk shows or in the latest diet best-seller.
I am finally
listening to mine and she is thanking me!
