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A friend, whose father perhaps not
incidentally was a medical doctor, recently wrote me, “I tend to believe many
of the ideas you have uncovered [?] have valid outcomes.” He described these
ideas as “alternative preventive medicine,” and lamented that “modern medicine
doesn’t have a great deal of concern for them.” He opined, “They love leaning
on prescription solutions.” These comments gave me a lot to ponder.
First, with respect to my friend,
he has been reading my columns almost since I began writing them in 2010 and he
knows that I don’t just talk-the-talk; I walk-the-walk. Even if he acknowledges
that my “ideas” have “valid outcomes;” I have failed to persuade him to follow
a Very Low Carb or Low-Carb, High-Fat Way of Eating. Like most people under the
care of a specialist physician, I suspect he eats the way (s)he tells him. And today
he is still “9-months pregnant” with a large projecting belly (and other health
issues).
Second, from my friend’s viewpoint,
it sounds to me like “my” ideas are still a voice in the wilderness. It’s true,
of course, from an establishment perspective, that low-carb, moderate-protein,
high, healthy-fat eating is the opposite of the way we have been told to eat by
the establishment for our entire lives. In that sense, this Way of Eating is
surely “alternative.” Even Taubes, in his ground-breaking book, “Good Calories
– Bad Calories,” describes his “Carbohydrate Hypothesis” (as opposed to the
Diet-Heart hypothesis) as “alternative.”
And surely the low-carb,
moderate-protein, high-fat Way of Eating is “preventive.” And I don’t mean for
just the overweight, obese, pre-diabetic and type 2 diabetics amongst us. I
mean for the world’s entire population!
Since 1977, when the Dietary Goals for the United States was
published, we have been told to eat a diet of 55%-60% carbohydrates, 30% fats
and 10% protein. To this day the Nutrition Facts label on all processed food
packaging basically still advises us to eat that way. Some years ago they
removed the percentage of protein, and the 2015 the Guidelines eliminated the
“eat no more than 30% fat, but the 300 grams of carbs on a 2,000kcal diet for
women and 375 grams on a 2,500 kcal diet for men remains. Do the math. For women,
300g x 4kcal/g = 1,200 calories = 60% of 2,000 calories. For men, 375g x
4kcal/g = 1,500kcal = 60% of 2,500 calories.
That percentage of carbohydrates
(60%) is way too high. It is the reason we are all (i.e. most of us) fat!
That’s how they fatten beef on the feed lot. We eat too many processed carbs
and baked goods, and refined sugars and beverages sweetened with high fructose
corn syrup or cane sugar. I don’t have to tell you. You know.
So, if we are going to go with
Hippocrates’ dictum of “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,”
what is a sensible “alternative, preventive medicine”? You don’t have to go to
“extreme” measures (unless your medical indications warrant it or you want to – it is safe
to give up carbs entirely), here is my suggestion:
● For
women, reduce your carb intake to 20% (vs.60%) of 2,000 calories. That’s 100
grams a day and a 2/3rds reduction. You will feel better, lose
weight easily, and have better blood lipids, especially HDL-C (the good
cholesterol) and TGLs. Look for lower inflammation and, as you lose weight,
improved BP.
●
For men, reduce your carb intake to 20% of 2,500
calories. That’s 125 grams a day and also a 2/3rds reduction. You
will have all the same benefits and feel pumped all day long. No need to snack.
Your metabolism will run at full-speed because your blood sugar won’t crash.
Honestly. You’ll feel great!
Of course, as you eat fewer carbs,
you can increase your protein from 10% to 15% or even 20% and your fats from
30% to as much as 60%. That’s not as much as it seems since fat is more than
twice as energy dense as both protein and carbs (9kcal/g for fat vs. 4kcal/g
for protein and carbs). Eat more butter, cream and olive oil!
As my friend wrote,
this is a “real preventive route to reaching better health.” I just wish he’d take to the road.
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