Fiber: Friend or Foe?

I was recently discussing some of the benefits of the Paleo way of eating with a friend who also eats this way. (See, I don’t just blog about this stuff – it’s a regular topic of real live conversation.)  He expressed his surprise at… well, how do I say this politely? …the relative ease of elimination while eating so much meat and fat.  

I told him that it actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Have you ever heard of a constipated lion? Animals in the wild that eat what they were meant to eat have no problems with bloating, gas, diarrhea and constipation. They don’t need relief from Bean-O or Ex-Lax. They eat, they go, end of story. I have to imagine it used to be pretty much the same for us as humans before we started eating all the processed garbage we now call food.

Fat is NOT the Enemy

I have been in a war with fat for most of my life. In fact, I cannot remember a time in my life when fat was not my enemy. Like most of you, I grew up believing that eating fatty foods made me fat. Accordingly, I tried to limit my fat intake as much as possible. It wasn’t until very recently that I became aware that this notion of “fat equals fat” is totally and completely false. What is baffling to me is that with all the evidence to the contrary, doctors, nutritionists and health experts are still so attached to this worn-out theory that they continue to promote it. 

Don't Take the Subway

I heard two interesting pieces of news this week…

First, in case you missed it, Hostess filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Hostess makes all of those little diabetes-ticking-time bombs I deplore like Twinkies, Ho-Hos and Wonder Bread. I know I should not applaud the loss of a major American manufacturer in this economy but I can’t say I was sorry to hear this little nugget.

The second piece of news of interest to me was that Subway was ranked for the third year in a row as the #1 restaurant for healthy options in America. Subway was also voted as America’s favorite brand.

Apparently, I am in the minority.  I don’t consider Subway healthy and it’s not my favorite American brand. I would actually categorize Subway right along with all the other fast food restaurant chains out there.  Better than McDonald’s, maybe, but not by much. 

Most of you are probably scratching your heads a bit right now… “But isn’t Subway good for us?” That is certainly what Subway believes and most mainstream nutritionists say is the case. But I don’t think so.  In fact, I don’t believe eating a Subway sandwich is all that nutritionally different from eating a Twinkie. Now, I know you think I have totally lost it, but hear me out.

I freely admit that I am not a scientist, doctor or nutritionist, but I have spent years reading books, articles, websites and magazines written by scientists, doctors and nutritionists. You could call it a hobby of sorts – some might call it an obsession. Either way, I consider myself a student of health, nutrition and fitness. And all of my research has convinced me that what we are constantly being “fed” about nutrition in America is false. We continue to count calories and eat whole grain, low-fat, over-processed foods (like Subway) in an effort to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle.

How that working out?  Almost 70% of the adult population in the United States is overweight and 30% is obese.

If you missed my last blog entry, I introduced the notion of eating a Paleo diet that is based on the way our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate before the agriculture revolution.  To refresh your memory, the basics of the Paleo diet include eating lean meats, vegetables, fruit and healthy fats like nuts, seeds, avocado and olive oil while avoiding all grains, dairy and legumes. Meat, veggies and fruit are the foods your body was meant to consume.  Our bodies evolved to be able to process these nourishing foods for fuel.

Similarly, our bodies were not made to process grains, dairy or legumes. These foods are very difficult for our bodies to digest properly.  But don’t take my word for it.  The following snippet is taken from Robb Wolf’s website and is written by Amy Kubal, a reputable Registered Nutritionist, explaining the specifics of what happens in your body when grain, dairy or legumes are consumed:

The foods that are not part of a paleo lifestyle; grains, legumes, soy, dairy, etc, all contain proteins and/or anti-nutrients that our bodies were not designed to handle.  Grains contain large protein molecules called ‘lectins’.  The digestive system doesn’t have the ‘equipment’ necessary to breakdown lectins, which means, they just hang around in the gut.  These ‘loose canons’ have the ability to bind to certain gut receptors and then act as ‘keys’ unlocking a door that lets them out into our bodies.  Unfortunately, lectins were ‘born in a barn’ – not only do they not close the door as they leave, but they also damage the gut on the way out.  This is how the gut gets ‘leaky’ and it doesn’t end there.  Since the lectins are not part of the ‘normal’ environment, the body doesn’t recognize them and the immune system, standing on guard, initiates an attack on the strangers creating antibodies against them.  The antibodies made have a striking resemblance to other proteins normally found in our systems.  This leads to an autoimmune response (the body attacking itself).  The story is similar for legumes and dairy, both of which also contain proteins, anti-nutrients and protease inhibitors that irritate the gut in much the same way as lectins.  While many may feel exempt from the whole process, claiming that they feel fine – this may not necessarily be the case.  While some may be more sensitive to these foods than others, it is likely that removing them will have positive effects across the board.

If you are still with me after all that science stuff, I’d like to go back to my original assertion that eating a Subway sandwich is not that different (nutritionally speaking) from eating a Twinkie… If our bodies were not designed to process grains in general, it stands to reason that a Subway sandwich (made up of wheat flour and some other choice lab chemicals) is basically void of nutrients that our bodies can use for fuel. Even the meats used in a typical Subway sandwich, which do give us some useful protein, are overly processed and loaded with nitrates and other preservatives.  As we discovered above, our bodies are just not designed to process these foods, and they could actually be making us very sick in a number of different ways. Instead, why not fuel our bodies with foods we were born to eat?

New Year’s Resolutions

It is six days into the New Year, a good time to see how we are doing with those New Year’s resolutions…

It’s a year-end American holiday standard, right up there with wreaths, mistletoe, bad fruit cake and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rocking Eve.   We stuff ourselves full of sugary treats, fattening food and alcohol for weeks – then we resolve to lose weight when the calendar hits January.  We expect to wave our magic wand and in one day turn all of our bad habits on their head. “It is a New Year with new possibilities after all,” we tell ourselves…

Like many of you, I overindulged during the holidays and am paying a huge price for it now.