Nutrition is crazy!
Mar. 29th, 2011 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mmmporkEveryone has their own theories on nutrition, their own diets, and their own solutions. While many of these programs have good concepts there are always fringe notions that are a bit extreme. I'm not sure who is right, but I guess it just comes down to do what's best for you.
I recently started reading Sally Fallon's works, "Nourishing Traditions" and "Eat Fat Lose Fat". Her work is based on the principles of Weston A. Price, a dentist who travelled around the world examining different cultures to understand how diet affects our dental health. He put together a basic diet recommendation based on his research which can be summarized here:
http://www.westonaprice.org/about-us/2117-healthy-4-life
I really enjoyed Nourishing Traditions, although the recipes are kind of bland and she gets a little extreme on some points. Turns out Fallon started up the Weston Price Foundation and it just feels like in both books she's pushing some products from certain partner websites. Eat Fat Lose Fat is pretty bad. I like the discussions of coconut oil and its benefits for weight loss. I don't like the diet regimen. Anything that suggests a temporary diet rather than just giving you the principles so you can adjust to your own preferences just makes me distrust it. Regarding core principles, Fallon is basically just copy/pasting from Nourishing Traditions, but talks more about coconut oil specifically in Eat Fat Lose Fat.
In any case, the core principles behind both books are the same. The way we ate 200 years ago before industrialization is way better for our bodies than the overly processed food we eat now. She says we need to eat more saturated fats, that they are actually good for us, and contribute to maintaining a healthy weight. Unpasteurized raw dairy, pastured chicken eggs (not just free range), fermented foods, and saturated animal fats and coconut oil are the keys to natural nutrition without the need for ineffective vitamin supplements. According to Fallon, Vitamin A and D are what allows us to really be able to absorb other nutrients. She recommends cod liver oil as a supplement well above the Recommended Daily Allowance. Research suggests that for most vitamins, the RDA is only what we minimally need to maintain our bodies. We should be taking in significantly more of most of them, which is possible with a traditional foods diet.
Another thing that I found interesting, was that Dr Hyman's Ultrametabolism program suggested eating large amounts of fiber and minimizing meat. When I started doing this, it helped me to feel full throughout the day. However, I was still crashing and feeling tired. In addition, I was going to the bathroom *a lot* and generally feeling kind of irritated. According to Fallon, while fiber is good, it's the saturated fats that give us the important feelings of satiation that will carry us through to the next meal. Dr Hyman had also mentioned needing to increase fats but he focused on Monounsaturated with his recommended saturated fats only coming from plant sources like Avocado and Coconut. Fallon makes it clear that we get vital nutrients from foods that contain high amounts of saturated animal fat, especially butter from grass fed cows (preferably unpasteurized). Dr Hyman also suggested limiting egg consumption to 8 per week, whereas Fallon does not suggest any such limit.
In addition, the fiber Fallon recommends is sprouted grains because beans and grains have high amounts of phytic acid that block nutrient absorption. Dr Hymen does not explicitly discuss this point, however Fallon makes it clear that grains must be soaked before cooking or baking. As an alternative, the addition of lactic acid can aid in breaking down the phytic acid, so whole wheat sourdough does not necessarily need to be sprouted.
So, I've started the switch. In the state of Washington, it is possible to by raw milk at the store. I've started drinking 3-4 glasses per day. I've noticed a huge change in my energy level when exercising. Where I was feeling fatigued and struggling, once I started drinking milk again, I had so much energy when exercising!!
I've also started eating animal protein at every meal. I get my milk from Pike Place Creamery and they also have eggs from local farmers that are not fully pastured but have more range and variety than typical free range vegetarian chickens.
My order of sourdough starter and sprouted spelt should be arriving today, I'm pretty excited. I understand that the extra starter is great for baking pancakes and muffins!
Regarding sugar, I'm not planning on switching anything I'm currently doing. I am primarily using Coconut Palm Sugar since it has a medium glycemic index and is minimally processed, so it retains nutrients. It's cheaper than Rapadura/Sucanat, which is what the author recommends.
Regarding vegetables, I have a great book on Japanese Tsukemono that has rice bran pickling instructions as well as a pretty decent looking kimchi recipe.
Anyways so here are my resources regarding my new mode of nutrition experimentation:
- Realmilk.com (Pro-Raw milk site) - http://www.realmilk.com
- Pike Place Market Creamery (where I buy raw milk, eggs, and butter) - http://newhope360.com/store-month-pike-place-market-creamery-tastes-sweet-success
- Dungeness Valley Creamery (Raw Milk in WA state) - http://www.dungenessvalleycreamery.com/
- Organic Valley Pasture Butter (pasteurized, but cultured and comes from grass-fed cows) - http://www.organicvalley.coop/products/butter/pasture/
- Rain Shadow Meats (High quality, humane WA butcher) - http://www.rainshadowmeats.com
- Radiant Life (Cod Liver Oil) - http://www.radiantlife.com
- Eden Foods (Malted Barley Syrup, Raw Vinegar, good Olive Oil) - http://www.edenfoods.com
- Cultures for Health (Sourdough starter, Kefir starter, Sprouted grain flour) - http://www.culturesforhealth.com
- Japanese Pickling Book - http://www.amazon.com/Quick-Easy-Tsukemono-Japanese-Pickling/dp/488996181X/
- Nourishing Traditions - http://www.amazon.com/Nourishing-Traditions-Challenges-Politically-Dictocrats/dp/0967089735/
- Sustainable Seafood Guide - http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx
- Tropical Traditions Red Palm Oil - http://www.amazon.com/Tropical-Traditions-Virgin-Palm-Oil/dp/B000W2CXXS
- Nutsonline.com Coconut Palm Sugar - http://www.nutsonline.com/cookingbaking/sweeteners/natural-sugar-replacements/palm-sugar.html
- Nutsonline.com Sucanat - http://www.nutsonline.com/cookingbaking/sweeteners/natural-sugar-replacements/organic-sucanat.html
I recently started reading Sally Fallon's works, "Nourishing Traditions" and "Eat Fat Lose Fat". Her work is based on the principles of Weston A. Price, a dentist who travelled around the world examining different cultures to understand how diet affects our dental health. He put together a basic diet recommendation based on his research which can be summarized here:
http://www.westonaprice.org/about-us/2117-healthy-4-life
I really enjoyed Nourishing Traditions, although the recipes are kind of bland and she gets a little extreme on some points. Turns out Fallon started up the Weston Price Foundation and it just feels like in both books she's pushing some products from certain partner websites. Eat Fat Lose Fat is pretty bad. I like the discussions of coconut oil and its benefits for weight loss. I don't like the diet regimen. Anything that suggests a temporary diet rather than just giving you the principles so you can adjust to your own preferences just makes me distrust it. Regarding core principles, Fallon is basically just copy/pasting from Nourishing Traditions, but talks more about coconut oil specifically in Eat Fat Lose Fat.
In any case, the core principles behind both books are the same. The way we ate 200 years ago before industrialization is way better for our bodies than the overly processed food we eat now. She says we need to eat more saturated fats, that they are actually good for us, and contribute to maintaining a healthy weight. Unpasteurized raw dairy, pastured chicken eggs (not just free range), fermented foods, and saturated animal fats and coconut oil are the keys to natural nutrition without the need for ineffective vitamin supplements. According to Fallon, Vitamin A and D are what allows us to really be able to absorb other nutrients. She recommends cod liver oil as a supplement well above the Recommended Daily Allowance. Research suggests that for most vitamins, the RDA is only what we minimally need to maintain our bodies. We should be taking in significantly more of most of them, which is possible with a traditional foods diet.
Another thing that I found interesting, was that Dr Hyman's Ultrametabolism program suggested eating large amounts of fiber and minimizing meat. When I started doing this, it helped me to feel full throughout the day. However, I was still crashing and feeling tired. In addition, I was going to the bathroom *a lot* and generally feeling kind of irritated. According to Fallon, while fiber is good, it's the saturated fats that give us the important feelings of satiation that will carry us through to the next meal. Dr Hyman had also mentioned needing to increase fats but he focused on Monounsaturated with his recommended saturated fats only coming from plant sources like Avocado and Coconut. Fallon makes it clear that we get vital nutrients from foods that contain high amounts of saturated animal fat, especially butter from grass fed cows (preferably unpasteurized). Dr Hyman also suggested limiting egg consumption to 8 per week, whereas Fallon does not suggest any such limit.
In addition, the fiber Fallon recommends is sprouted grains because beans and grains have high amounts of phytic acid that block nutrient absorption. Dr Hymen does not explicitly discuss this point, however Fallon makes it clear that grains must be soaked before cooking or baking. As an alternative, the addition of lactic acid can aid in breaking down the phytic acid, so whole wheat sourdough does not necessarily need to be sprouted.
So, I've started the switch. In the state of Washington, it is possible to by raw milk at the store. I've started drinking 3-4 glasses per day. I've noticed a huge change in my energy level when exercising. Where I was feeling fatigued and struggling, once I started drinking milk again, I had so much energy when exercising!!
I've also started eating animal protein at every meal. I get my milk from Pike Place Creamery and they also have eggs from local farmers that are not fully pastured but have more range and variety than typical free range vegetarian chickens.
My order of sourdough starter and sprouted spelt should be arriving today, I'm pretty excited. I understand that the extra starter is great for baking pancakes and muffins!
Regarding sugar, I'm not planning on switching anything I'm currently doing. I am primarily using Coconut Palm Sugar since it has a medium glycemic index and is minimally processed, so it retains nutrients. It's cheaper than Rapadura/Sucanat, which is what the author recommends.
Regarding vegetables, I have a great book on Japanese Tsukemono that has rice bran pickling instructions as well as a pretty decent looking kimchi recipe.
Anyways so here are my resources regarding my new mode of nutrition experimentation:
- Realmilk.com (Pro-Raw milk site) - http://www.realmilk.com
- Pike Place Market Creamery (where I buy raw milk, eggs, and butter) - http://newhope360.com/store-month-pike-place-market-creamery-tastes-sweet-success
- Dungeness Valley Creamery (Raw Milk in WA state) - http://www.dungenessvalleycreamery.com/
- Organic Valley Pasture Butter (pasteurized, but cultured and comes from grass-fed cows) - http://www.organicvalley.coop/products/butter/pasture/
- Rain Shadow Meats (High quality, humane WA butcher) - http://www.rainshadowmeats.com
- Radiant Life (Cod Liver Oil) - http://www.radiantlife.com
- Eden Foods (Malted Barley Syrup, Raw Vinegar, good Olive Oil) - http://www.edenfoods.com
- Cultures for Health (Sourdough starter, Kefir starter, Sprouted grain flour) - http://www.culturesforhealth.com
- Japanese Pickling Book - http://www.amazon.com/Quick-Easy-Tsukemono-Japanese-Pickling/dp/488996181X/
- Nourishing Traditions - http://www.amazon.com/Nourishing-Traditions-Challenges-Politically-Dictocrats/dp/0967089735/
- Sustainable Seafood Guide - http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx
- Tropical Traditions Red Palm Oil - http://www.amazon.com/Tropical-Traditions-Virgin-Palm-Oil/dp/B000W2CXXS
- Nutsonline.com Coconut Palm Sugar - http://www.nutsonline.com/cookingbaking/sweeteners/natural-sugar-replacements/palm-sugar.html
- Nutsonline.com Sucanat - http://www.nutsonline.com/cookingbaking/sweeteners/natural-sugar-replacements/organic-sucanat.html
