Tuesday, May 6, 2014

all carbs are not created equal -- but we all knew that

So far, Optimal Diet proportions haven't shown me much progress ... but stress has been an issue for months here.  Stress is the very worst thing to have to deal with while trying to eat for health and fat-loss!

(Our sunroom-and-garage addition planning is getting finalized, though.  We have our favorite construction guy on board -- that's one source of stress removed; we've chosen the hot-tub, fireplace, floor tile and doors and windows.  Floor plan is as carved-in-stone as is humanly possible.  Whew.  Found someone to take care of our dog and bird, too, after our usual TWO dog-sitters had conflicts with our vacation dates.  BIG "whew.")

So for the next two weeks -- i vow here with witnesses! -- i'm going to be very, very good.  I may not achieve "perfect" but i WILL be that way inclined.  One glass of wine with lunch and dinner, not imbibed in advance.  Wine is an important digestive aid with me, but if i start my first glass while i'm cooking, i have to pour another when we sit down to our meal.  One glass is not moreish but two are -- sneaky stuff!  And three glasses of wine IMPAIRS digestion.  :-)

No potatoes.  Minimal lettuce.  Be wary of inulin.  Be wary of ANYTHING that causes bloat!  Avoid goitrogens.  Buy a cucumber.  Squash (two types in the fridge already) seems to be trouble-free in the serving sizes i favor.  Half-cup of rice causes no problems.

Because all carbs are not created equal, any more than the various types of fat are!  Not even all SATURATED fats are.  The human tendency to categorize and compartmentalize just doesn't work well when it comes to food.

It's more than just "gut health" -- there, we find, various gurus STILL try to fit everyone into a single niche.  I for one do not think that everyone SHOULD strive to be able to eat "everything."  Even if we all were to have the same microbiome, our genetics would assert themselves and demand that we not eat something which other people can center their entire diets around.  The gut-bugs that are ideal for MY ancestrally-appropriate diet are not the gut-bugs that are optimal for my friends whose people are NOT from the British Isles and northern Europe.  We should, most likely, NOT be eating the same kinds of foods when you get beyond animal parts.

I was eating very cleanly when i discovered a problem with nightshades above the half-cup-serving size.  Ditto for cashews cooked into dishes (again, a half-cup of roasted salted ones don't give me any trouble).  Real fermented sauerkraut brings on hypothyroid symptoms.  A small salad made at home is fine; a large salad served in a restaurant has "digestive discomfort" written all over it.  Peanuts, too -- but if i soak and cook dried legumes MYSELF i can get away without the fermentation that causes the misery.

It's all VERY individual.  If your body says "NO," i'm not sure why some people want to force it to go there anyway.

Some people absolutely DO NOT TOLERATE gluten, ... and some have fructose absorption issues, or lactose or alcohol processing limitations.  Should they try to consume the stuff anyway, just because some people claim to thrive on it?

If you know what you can eat so that your own signature biota are happy, why do you want to push them beyond that?  Because "nine cups of colorful vegetables per day" improved the health of SOMEBODY ELSE?  Why should i think that would work for ME, if ONE cup of colorful vegetables can make me miserable?  "You have to feed your good bacteria" -- but who says you DON'T have the right bacteria FOR YOU already?  Unless you've killed off your microbiome with antibiotics, or intoxicated them with excess sugar, or suffered the foreign-invasion of food-poisoning, does something really NEED to be done?   ...Maybe it does, but the point is, it's YOU who should reach that conclusion, not some guru extrapolating from a few success-stories to the greater population.

11 comments:

  1. As much as I like vegetables, if I tried to eat nine cups I'd be curled up in a fetal position in pain.

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    1. :-) i LIKE them -- i just can't tolerate them well. ...it's so reassuring to compare notes with others like us! if i didn't have my internet contacts, i'd think i was some kind of freak misfit -- worse than i actually am, i mean!

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  2. No no no Tess don't you know that you have to count calories in everything and you need to LIFT BRO!111 And intermittent fast for sixteen hours on every weekday that ends with Y! And carbs are good! The Inuit ate carbs and fruits and whale blubber and they didn't get fat! Atkin sooooooo 1990's! AND DID U COOL THE RICE BEFORE EATING THEM!1 THE RESISTANT STARCH RULES ALL

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    1. The meat, it is full of glycogen. The science books from the 1930s say so!

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    2. "here we go pi-icking CHERries in May, cherries in May, cherries in May...." ;-)

      (actually, I probably do IF 16 hr/d most of the time -- please don't tell anyone!)

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  3. Glad to hear somebody else eats "right for their type" ha ha....little pun. But seriously I hear this clap-trap all day from everyone about how my diet is unhealthy, VLC. And how I need to eat their preferred way...blah x 3 veggies and fruit, oatmeal, beans, RS. I say BS! Eat what makes my tummy happy. I am healthy and slim and have plenty of energy. More than when I ate all that other stuff. Muscle and bone health are my most prized possessions not "healthy stuff" defined by someone else.
    Rock on!!

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    1. "RS. I say BS" :-D rallying cry of the lowcarbosphere!

      without a "happy tummy" we're miserable -- i understand people wanting to eat delicious stuff, but ... well, if i have to say it, this is what separates children from adults. children "want it NOW." adults say some things are just better avoided even if they taste good, or provide a pleasant "high."

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  4. My tummy is ok with almost everything, usually energy fluctuations and water retention signal troubles for me.
    Eating too much of vegetables makes mere more interested in eating somehow. I can absolutely overeat roaster peppers , vegetable stew with eggplants and bell peppers, stewed cabbage.

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    1. interesting! for myself, i like the taste of vegetables but i rarely care to go out of my way for them, and i easily stop.

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  5. I find that most green vegetables either raw or cooked are the corner stone of my diet. I can't imagine low carb eating without them. All meat, mushrooms and green vegetables. That's all I eat and it's really working. I go easy on bell pepper, tomatoes and onion. My question is what do you eat? I'm curious if I could add what you substitute for vegetables to my diet, as a way to diversify. Thanks.

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    1. i'm happy eating mostly meat. coffee is "necessary," but not for the caffeine. i go light on cheese -- no more than three or four ounces once in awhile . eggs. the vegetables i use most are garnishes or ingredients in favorite mixtures -- tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, jalapenos; occasionally sweet peppers, squashes, lettuce, celery and celery root, avocado, artichoke, or cauliflower. rarely, rhubarb, turnips or rutabagas, carrots, parsnips, peas, okra, cabbage, and sweet potato/"irish" potato. when my crop comes in, sunchokes.

      thing is, my husband doesn't feel well without veggies -- he tried Strong Medicine but it was too strong for him. ;-) if we cook them, i'll usually eat a little bit, but it depends on what they are, and if i think they won't bother me THAT DAY.

      i also occasionally make oopsie rolls, flax bread, coconut-flour tortillas or almond-flour biscuits, because we have favorite dishes which require a bread-like product. on a rare occasion, i make real sourdough 100%rye bread because i know i tolerate it pretty well ... and it's SO delicious as a base for Welsh Rarebit! :-)

      i end up eating quite a lot of plant materials, but as the vast proportion of my diet, it's animal products.

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