I want to start a low carb diet. Mayo Diet, Keto? Any suggestions?

After many years of being a no-red-meat Omnivore I read The China Study in 2008. Since then my way-of-eating (WOE) is well described by the following:

DAILY FARE April 8, 2016

Wrote this today in response to an inquiry. I pass it on for your consideration, your eye rolls, guffaws or what-have-you.

You asked a while back for some info on my diet. Low-fat, whole-food, plant-based. That's the mantra. Taken in reverse order. It's exclusively plant-based, the only thing from an animal might be a covert chicken or beef broth or similar ingredient which slips under my radar and I unwittingly get in a restaurant-prepared meal. Another possibility is a bit of gelatin in a medicine capsule. I realize these minuscule amounts, well...amount to nothing, but the longer I've been at this the more I simply try to get away from using animals as food or for any other purpose which is based on exploitation, speciesism, etc.

Whole-foods translates into, within practical limits, avoiding processed stuff. I still get my share of it, though doubtless much less than is present in the standard American diet. Salsa, shredded wheat cold cereal, soy and almond milk, whole wheat flour, cream of wheat, stevia, whole grain breads, wheat bran, wheat germ, corn starch, corn tortillas are a few of the processed things I use. There are others I'm simply not remembering at the moment.

Much of what I eat comes from the produce department. The cornucopia of colorful foods there supply flavor and the vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and antioxidants which, with the exception of B-12, eliminate the need for taking supplements so long as one gets judicious sun exposure for vitamin D. This all rests, often literally, on a bed of healthful, starchy carbs, e.g., brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat pasta, rice noodles, Bulgar wheat, couscous. The starches provide satiation and energy. They're a must. One would starve trying to survive on non-starchy vegetables. Other healthful starches are peas, beans, corn, the winter squashes (butternut, acorn, etc.) and all potatoes.

Finally, the low-fat aspect rests on elimination of all cooking oils which are equivalent to junk food in that they contain no protein, no carbohydrate, no minerals, scant vitamins. They are pure fat and, with the exception of canola oil they are all heavily weighted toward omega 6's and low in omega 3's which results in an inflammatory balance. So pure fat with little or no food value. One can’t survive on the stuff thus it’s junk, not food. It's virtually impossible to get one's dietary fat down to a healthful 10-15% of calories while continuing to use vegetable oils.

Here's the way this translated into today's lunch. Open-face oil-free hummus and green olive sandwich on 9-grain whole wheat bread. Small-chunk-cut steamed organic beets with beet greens in orange zest glaze. Roasted, home-grown asparagus spears with garlic powder. Supper tonight: Home-made, no-oil marinara over whole wheat spaghetti with a green salad. I'll likely microwave-steam a few florets of broccoli and toss in the marinara.

Eating this way provides a high quality insurance policy against developing nutritional-based health problems and that's good because there are still plenty of other ways to get sick.

Hope this is useful, Don

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After many years of being a no-red-meat Omnivore I read The China Study in 2008. Since then my way-of-eating (WOE) is well described by the following:

DAILY FARE April 8, 2016

Wrote this today in response to an inquiry. I pass it on for your consideration, your eye rolls, guffaws or what-have-you.

You asked a while back for some info on my diet. Low-fat, whole-food, plant-based. That's the mantra. Taken in reverse order. It's exclusively plant-based, the only thing from an animal might be a covert chicken or beef broth or similar ingredient which slips under my radar and I unwittingly get in a restaurant-prepared meal. Another possibility is a bit of gelatin in a medicine capsule. I realize these minuscule amounts, well...amount to nothing, but the longer I've been at this the more I simply try to get away from using animals as food or for any other purpose which is based on exploitation, speciesism, etc.

Whole-foods translates into, within practical limits, avoiding processed stuff. I still get my share of it, though doubtless much less than is present in the standard American diet. Salsa, shredded wheat cold cereal, soy and almond milk, whole wheat flour, cream of wheat, stevia, whole grain breads, wheat bran, wheat germ, corn starch, corn tortillas are a few of the processed things I use. There are others I'm simply not remembering at the moment.

Much of what I eat comes from the produce department. The cornucopia of colorful foods there supply flavor and the vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and antioxidants which, with the exception of B-12, eliminate the need for taking supplements so long as one gets judicious sun exposure for vitamin D. This all rests, often literally, on a bed of healthful, starchy carbs, e.g., brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat pasta, rice noodles, Bulgar wheat, couscous. The starches provide satiation and energy. They're a must. One would starve trying to survive on non-starchy vegetables. Other healthful starches are peas, beans, corn, the winter squashes (butternut, acorn, etc.) and all potatoes.

Finally, the low-fat aspect rests on elimination of all cooking oils which are equivalent to junk food in that they contain no protein, no carbohydrate, no minerals, scant vitamins. They are pure fat and, with the exception of canola oil they are all heavily weighted toward omega 6's and low in omega 3's which results in an inflammatory balance. So pure fat with little or no food value. One can’t survive on the stuff thus it’s junk, not food. It's virtually impossible to get one's dietary fat down to a healthful 10-15% of calories while continuing to use vegetable oils.

Here's the way this translated into today's lunch. Open-face oil-free hummus and green olive sandwich on 9-grain whole wheat bread. Small-chunk-cut steamed organic beets with beet greens in orange zest glaze. Roasted, home-grown asparagus spears with garlic powder. Supper tonight: Home-made, no-oil marinara over whole wheat spaghetti with a green salad. I'll likely microwave-steam a few florets of broccoli and toss in the marinara.

Eating this way provides a high quality insurance policy against developing nutritional-based health problems and that's good because there are still plenty of other ways to get sick.

Hope this is useful, Don

Jump to this post