The
issue of “diets” is often featured in the media. It seems that for every diet,
there is also criticism. How can the average person know what is correct and
what is best for them? It is no wonder many people throw their hands up in
dismay, give up, and continue with the diet that gives them the most pleasure.
In reality, all healthy diets
should follow the same basic principles. I am going to give you the simple
facts about food and how it affects our bodies.
Rule number
1 – say to yourself,
“I am not on a diet, I am following a healthy eating plan”.
The word “diet” is not helpful – it
has connotations of deprivation, starvation, and looking forward to its finish.
Strictly speaking, “diet” is a term to describe what you eat.
Rule number
2 for a healthy
eating plan is to avoid processed foods as much as possible.
Consider our origins. What kinds
of foods did our ancestors eat?
They were originally
hunter-gatherers following a healthy eating plan of game meat, fish and freshly
picked fruits, vegetables, and berries. The most important thing that our
ancestors did not eat was processed foods. Later they learned
to cultivate crops and domesticate animals, but there were still no processed
foods. In the last hundred years we have made “new to nature molecules”.
These have been chemically constructed and are not found in nature. When foods are processed, man made chemicals are
added to enhance the flavour, colour, consistency, and shelf life. The human
body has an amazing ability to process and utilize the many natural chemicals
found in foods. How can we expect the body to suddenly be able to process a
large range of new man made chemicals found both as food additives and as
pesticides and as chemicals fed to animals? Add all this to medications, air
pollution and stress, and is it any wonder that we are not feeling well.
Rule number
3 for a healthy
eating plan is to have moderate meal sizes.
Our ancestors had access to natural foods, but for most of them finding food was
difficult and often the variety was severely limited. For survival, the body
required inbuilt chemical pathways to minimise the effect, but the same chemical
pathways exist in our bodies today and can cause us problems. For example:
The body is a very
efficient fat storage machine. Great if food is scarce, but a major problem
today.
Fat cells are great
for energy storage, but unfortunately they also store many chemical toxins such
as pesticides.
Energy expended in
hunting and gathering was roughly equivalent to energy in food eaten. Weight
gain was not easy, exercise was daily. We are made to exercise daily. Fat is a
major fuel for muscles. Muscle burns off fat.
Famine was more the
normal. It has been shown in animals that having more calories than required
may halve life expectancy. Do you ever find that when eating at a restaurant
you get half way through a delicious meal and feel “this is probably enough?”
Then tuck in and enjoy the rest. This is the way we approach most meals.
Rule number
4 for a healthy
eating plan is to eat small meals of low glycaemic load foods at regular
intervals. When we eat
a meal, the plant foods are broken down to simple sugars causing blood sugar to
rise. This induces the pancreas to release insulin which allows simple sugars
in the blood to enter the cells to be used in energy production. To prevent
damage to the body, blood sugar levels have to be strictly controlled. Once the
cells have accepted all the sugar they need, no more can be taken in. The only
other way of getting rid of blood sugar is to convert it to fat. At the same
time insulin tells the fat cells not to release fat. Insulin is a very
strong fat storage hormone. The higher the insulin, the longer this
signal will last. Foods with a high glycaemic index will cause insulin to rise
rapidly and encourage fat gain.
A helpful
book for more information on insulin and glycaemic index is “The New Glucose
Revolution” by Prof. Jennie Brand-Miller. The author is a professor at Sydney
University who tested many foods to find their glycaemic index and more
importantly the glycaemic load they exert on the body. The glycaemic load takes
into account the amount of carbohydrate in foods, and is more accurate than the
glycaemic index in predicting the effect of a meal on blood sugar levels. See
also her website
www.glycemicindex.com for individual food values.
Rule number
5 for a healthy
eating plan is to have snacks between meals. Snacks are very important to
top up our blood sugar and to prevent us from eating too much at a meal. The
best snacks are low glycaemic load fruits and a variety of raw unsalted nuts
especially almonds, pepitas, walnuts, macadamias, brazils.
Rule number
6 for a healthy
eating plan is to have adequate good fats and avoid bad fats.
Good fats and oils are essential
for health. The media promotion of 97% fat free foods gives the impression that
we should avoid all fats. If our diet contained only 3% fat, we would become
very sick. These are the facts about fat:
We need 20% to 30% of
our daily calories to come from fat.
We have been led to believe that all fats are
the same and that all fats are bad. Not so! Good
fats are required to make hormones and anti-inflammatory prostaglandins, and
form the basis of all cell membranes in the body.
Good fats
are found in fish, avocado, raw nuts such as almonds, walnuts, macadamias,
pepitas, and Brazils. Sunflower, sesame and flax seeds. Cold pressed
vegetable and olive oils.
Use olive oil for
cooking, and coconut oil in moderation can be good in high temperature cooking.
Safflour and Flaxseed oil is great on salads and vegetables. Never cook with
flaxseed oil and store in fridge. Organic oils are best.
Fish oil supplements
daily are a good way to boost good oils.
Bad fats
come from animal sources and from unsaturated fats that have been heated or over
exposed to light. Avoid oils in clear plastic bottles.
Avoid all animal
fats. Grain fed beef will be fattier than normal beef. Red meat contains much
more fat than white meat. Do not eat the skin of poultry.
Avoid Trans Fatty
Acids. These are formed when oils are heated. Found in all margarines, most
commercially baked products, and deep fried foods
Excess dietary fats
are to be avoided as they contribute to cardiovascular disease and weight gain.
Remember the body makes fat from carbohydrates (plant materials) at nearly every
meal. High carbohydrate intake can be just as dangerous as high fat intake.
Moderation is the rule – see rule number 3.
Rule number
7 for a healthy
eating plan is to eat regular balanced meals.
Optimum health requires a wide range of nutrients and plant chemicals in a good
balance of protein, carbohydrate and fat. Our calorie intake should come from
about 20% to 30% protein, 40% to 60% carbohydrate and 20% to 30% fat. The “Zone
diet” recommends 30% protein, 40% carbohydrate, 30% fat, and is considered a
healthy eating plan.
Rule number
8 for a healthy
eating plan is to enjoy your food.
Take your time with eating and ensure that you chew very well. Try to eat in a
relaxed atmosphere. Mealtime should be a pleasure gained from the quality of
food, good company, and good surroundings. Beware of seeking pleasure in the
amount of food eaten, and beware eating under stressful conditions.
Eating plans for specific purposes
require adherence to all the above 8 rules with some adjustments.
WEIGHT LOSS
– reduce overall calorie intake, have some protein at each meal, avoid all high
glycaemic index foods, 60 minutes exercise daily. Snacks are essential to
prevent hunger. Some people do better with weekly supervision and/or a specific
program. I can monitor your progress and I use the very successful Ultra Lite
program for those who need to lose about 2 kg weekly.
LONGEVITY
– ideal weight with minimal maintenance calories, daily exercise.
CARDIOVASCULAR
HEALTH – it is most
important to have good fats and avoid bad fats. Fish on a daily basis and/or
fish oil supplements, avoid red meats, avoid dairy, do daily exercise.
DETOXIFY
– lots of fresh vegetables and vegetable juice (not fruit juice). Easily
digested proteins, avoid all refined carbohydrates. Drink 2 litres of water per
day, no alcohol. Some herbs and supplements with a supervised detoxification
program can be very helpful.
SPORTS –
replacing electrolytes, and
encouraging muscle repair requires specialised nutrients. I recommend the
“Endura” sports range. Calorie intake needs to be higher than normal, but
beware of eating too much refined carbohydrate.
CANCER RISK
REDUCTION – lots of
organic vegetable and vegetable juices. Avoid all high glycaemic load foods,
avoid barbeque and any browned foods (for example toast), avoid all chemicals
(including cleaning chemicals), food additives, maintain ideal weight, reduce
stress
SKIN HEALTH
– requires a good digestive system, healthy liver and adequate water and good
fats. You may be sensitive to certain foods.
St George
Naturopathic Clinic
