No One Eats Properly: Try a Low Carb Diet

Sugar Free and Low Carb Diet

So it’s a low carb diet now. I gave up processed or added sugar over 7 months ago now. The odd bit of sugar sneaks down my gullet in disguise I’m quite sure. But for the most part it’s sugar free. The no carb thing is more recent, say 3 months or so at the time of writing.

The theory behind the low carb diet is that we eat too many low nutrient ‘filler’ foods which mainly come in the form of carbs. These foods mess with our insulin and cause inflammation which leads to every health problem that kills people.

The inflammation theory is suspect. Qualified professionals argue, mainly with each other, that foods such as fats or chemicals are responsible for inflammation. We, the uncertain public, sit in the middle and watch the feud back and forth like a tennis match.

Anyway, here are the reasons that I am trying a low carb diet:

• I want more energy and will do about anything to get it
• To burn fat instead of carbs on long runs, climbs, etc. There seems to be some science behind that being a good thing, but who knows.
• A trusted friend suggested it
• It’s something I haven’t tried before
• It didn’t seem overly hard
• The parts of my diet that were crap involved carbs – processed sugar, lots of bread, some pasta, some rice, every kind of snack food and beer (believe me, it’s all carbs, I can’t find anything to snack on anymore).

Scientific Research…

I’ve watched two documentaries lately on what a person should eat. Well, I attempted to watch them and quit part way through on each. I hate both sides.

The one doctor, Neal Barnard, during an interview shook his head in disgust at the mention that sugar might be involved in causing diabetes. ‘I’m sick of people saying this, it drives me crazy,’ blah blah.

Really dude?? Give your head a shake. Do you know who has been saying this? Everybody!! All your brethren, only for about 40-years. And you are questioning why the public believes it. What about eating low fat because it will make you lose weight? That’s about 40-years of brainwash as well! Are eggs good or bad for you? How about coffee?? Red wine???

Whew, had to get that off my chest!

None of the experts agree on anything. Many of the ‘facts’ directly contradict each other. The most frustrating part of all this is that the authorities all argue their point as if there is no way they could be wrong. Their science is good, the research top notch.

Anyway, here are some of the initial challenges of a Low Carb Diet:

• It took 3 weeks to adjust and not feel terrible – low energy, lethargic, sort of sick etc. I drank lots of water and consumed electrolytes a couple times in desperation.
• It was hard to figure out what exactly to eat. There was too much processed meat and cheese at first. My nut consumption skyrocketed and coconut oil became a staple.
• Eating lots of fat seemed wrong and that mindset needed to be changed. I’d spent my whole life avoiding fats, just like the experts told me. All the foods that were eaten sparingly and with great reserve had to become routine e.g. butter, coconut oil, nuts, avocado, cheese, cream etc.
• I didn’t know what to pack for long trips. No energy bars or oatmeal and freeze dried food anymore. It was all nuts, cheese, coconut oil in everything including coffee and hempseeds. Surprisingly this seemed to work fine though. See Long Trail Hike.

The Hack

I have a confession and don’t even feel bad about it. The reason this way of eating didn’t cause too many problems is because alcohol consumption is still allowed. I’ve switched it up a bit – low carb beer only, gin and soda water and some wines. I do feel this would have been much harder if there wasn’t some booze permitted to look forward to at the end of the day.

Anyway, here is what has happened so far:

• I lost about 7 pounds. Weight loss wasn’t the main goal but that’s cool.
• My stomach feels better. Maybe not as much bloating at different times for seemingly no reason.
• I might have more energy but maybe not. It’s subtle and I’m not overly observant.
• My blood pressure was down enough to get through the yearly consultation with the specialist without having to fight off the bid to prescribe meds again.
• My skin cleared up a bit. That might have been more of a result of quitting the sugar earlier though.
• The grocery bill went up. Filler foods are cheap and, well, filling. I didn’t buy a lot of meat before. Now it’s necessary and this isn’t really all that great.

Common Sense for a Low Carb Diet

I’m planning on following this diet for awhile longer. It makes sense to me that processed carbs are bad for you. Bread, pasta and most rice are just filler foods. They provide very little nutritional value. Highly processed foods are terrible. There is absolutely no reason to eat added sugar in all it’s forms or snacks like chips and crackers. That’s a no brainer.

Anyway, here’s the catch:

• Modern farming creates meat products that are bad for you and processed meats are apparently devil’s food
• Eggs and dairy are also suspect
• The pesticides in agriculture cause many health problems
• Our soil is deficient from over farming and does not provide the nutrients to our food that it used to
• Seafood practically glows in the dark
• Is our water supply any good?
• What about the air we breathe?

This could get out of hand. You would be left nibbling on raw, organic vegetables like a mouse. This would be a very weak, emaciated, self righteous and annoying mouse.

An Expert, Maybe

This way of eating is taken from Dr. Phil Maffetone. As far as I can tell he’s a chiropractor that came up with a plan for eating and training that was somewhat unique. He then got some athletes on board, mainly Mark Allen who was an aging Ironman Triathlete who followed the plan and came back and kicked butt!

Conclusions:

• The low carb diet might be good for you according to experts.
• The low carb diet might not be good for you according to experts.
• There are some benefits, but maybe not as life altering as I was led to believe.
• There are some drawbacks but maybe not many.
• These conclusions suck.

So, does anyone know what we should be eating?