Studies and books and history are awesome and instructive on questions like diet. Taking that science to the next level - wouldn’t it be great to have personal studies and data about YOU. Your physiology, your age, sex, heredity, ethnicity, etc. Good news, You can now design your own dietary study, get your own blood work, track your own results, on Diet A vs Diet B, which is best for You?
Let’s say you want to test a low fat diet against a low carb diet, both are popular but which is better for you? Two objective measures might be a panel of blood tests and your bathroom scale. A 3rd criteria is which one was delicious, satisfying and thus easier to sustain.
Heres how to do it. For 8 weeks track the foods and beverages you consume. Amounts and calories are less important than just noting what it is that you eat. At end of 8 weeks on say a low fat low calorie diet program get your blood work done. Link here, this one is a best female blood test panel from lef.org. they ave male panels available as well. Many other sites support this direct approach. Cost is aprox 300 bucks, even lower at 225 in early April as tests go on sale. Many companies offer this, Google “ blood test online direct “. Yes you can get some tests through your Doc and insurance by its often a battle and timing is important here, you want a test the last day of that 8 weeks because after all this is science so lets be precise.
Then start phase 2 of your own personal science experiment - 8 weeks on what is fast becoming the consensus diet for good health long term and healthy weight, a Low Carb diet. Parameters are enough protein, formula is aprox. 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. For most Americans this is what we eat anyway, aprox a playing cards size portion 3-4 times a day from a mix of all sources, choose best quality protein you can; grass fed beef, wild caught fish, organic eggs, full fat grass fed dairy, etc. Add tons of low carb veggies - cruciferous veggies, greens, etc. Exclude all high carb “veggies" like any potato, rice, grain. You can add in a little slow burn / low glycemic grain like faro, 1/4 cup with a meal. No flour based products - bread, pasta, pastries, cake, bagels. Drop the sweets, anything with sugar, honey, HFCS, etc. Fruit is ok, mostly berries. Avoid high glycemic super sweet fruits. No fruit juice. Be French, fruit ok with fat or after a meal as dessert. Wine max 1 glass per day after or with food, preferably high fat, like the French do, wine n cheese, wine with dinner, not before, not on empty stomach, avoids big glucose spike.
Add lots of fats, both saturated and unsaturated. Eggs, bacon, butter, olive oil, fatty fish, pork sausage, butter, cream, spices and sauces galore, way more romantic and fun than low fat can ever be. Exclude all processed foods / fast food. They are fun of bad oils, white flour and sugar. Exclude all bad fats. This includes “vegetable oils” really seed oils, all man made, heavy in omega 6s and deadly. Includes corn, soy, cotton seed, safflower and canola.
Don’t scrimp on calories, don’t be hungry. Have a big breakfast, smaller and earlier dinners. Again, track diet for 8 weeks, then blood tests and scale check like above.
The results…. my prediction is that objective scientific highly personalized experiment will show clear cut results for you. Your blood tests and weight will be much healthier after phase 2. This low carb, full fat, full flavor, guilt free, hunger free way of eating will prove to be not only healthier but tastes better than low fat and always leaves you feeling satisfied.
Low fat diet reliance on carbs that increase cravings for sugar will be gone. Low calorie diets that rely on unsustainable amounts self control and hunger - gone. Both are negative feedback loops both physically ( lead to insulin insensitivity and fat storage ) and emotionally ( leads to shame, guilt, depression, emotional eating ). This low carb diets features of quality protein, lots of low-carb veggies, plenty of good fat and flavor - that will prove to be healthy, delicious and sustainable - the 3 things a good diet should be.
As we look at your blood tests we will focus on HDL ( good cholesterols will be much higher) your triglycerides (will be much lower). Your glucose and insulin ( these control fat storage vs fat burning, the key to achieving and sustaining healthy weight, they will be reduced). Your insulin sensitivity will be improved as well. We will largely ignore outdated metrics of total cholesterol and LDL, these offer weak to non existent correlation with important goals we care about - things like lower rates of cancer, heart disease, etc.
Of course stress reduction and exercise, time in nature and time with friends - those are all good any time but none are needed here. Testing 2 different dietary approaches with personal metrics, that will be highly revealing ;-)
Email me with questions or to review your results - I am excited for you ;-)