Our liquid and solid fuel consumption is a very complicated subject. It is masked with emotional overtones of our childhood, our culture, our changing tastes, our community norms and marketing. What might be your "comfort food"? What makes you feel good? What do you self-medicate yourself with to dull pain or anxiety? Do you binge, yo-yo diet or follow diet fads? What is your food pyramid?
We can't list all the questions which apply and we certainly don't have a clue about these things if our disease rates, obesity rates, rise in bariatric surgeries and new hot "over the counter" diet medication crazes portray an accurate picture. Are you really motivated by the idea of eating all the fat you want at the risk of uncontrollable fecal discharge in your pants at any time?
My life pattern of eating likely is as normal as the next person. I started with a mid-western palette modified by fours years of military eating. I actually was one of those persons in Viet Nam who enjoyed eating ham & lima bean rations; I was also amused to open K-rations produced in 1943, scrape off the top layer of solidified preservative and chow down. From there I moved on to typical college fare which meant lots of pizza, chips and beer. This continued on to greater sophistication of high fat meals with steak, bacon, hamburger, fries and all the assorted good things. Since all this was a gradual situation upon a 6-foot plus frame I could wear the change from 174 pounds to 235 pounds and not look too over weight. I just looked like a bigger version of myself.
My reaction to the confusion of what I should be eating for my health was to ignore it mostly. Actually, it was worse than that; I, like others around me, ignored healthy eating habits with a brazen bravado. You likely have heard guys just like me announcing something like hey, there is enough fat in this steak I might as well inject this fat straight into my veins so it can get to my heart quicker.
What makes this so pathetic is it turns out that eating the fat was actually more harmful than if I had main lined the darn stuff! Unknown to me and a lot of others at the time is that eating fat produces a bi-modal postprandial lipid surge. You get the terrible surge of fat into your system when you eat it and a second blasting surge pounding into your oh so delicate blood vessels about 5-7 hours later. This is after your organs have started breaking down the fats and they are distributing the results of their good work. Therefore, you receive twice the damaging surge which has been identified as a significant independent risk factor for cardiovascular heart disease by itself.
| The take away message about body fuel is that getting this variable correct will in large part dramatically impact how well you might reverse your current disease state and how long you may live. Please note that I am referring to this as body fuel versus food. There are fuels that you must stop using in your body machine because it's gumming up the circulation system and there is fuel you must start using to help you get better fuel mileage and engine life. Certain additives need to be used now to help your self-repairing engine to heal some problem areas over the next 18-24 months.
Ron Yates MPH |
The area of modification that I was least able to understand is how I might change my eating habits. I strongly encourage you to find assistance wherever you can find it. In my case, I had a life mate who shared my goal of working towards a longer healthier life for me. With the kind assistance of my wife, we adopted a modified Omega Diet. Our taste pallets have changed very rapidly and the change I thought would be the most difficult has not been difficult. In fact, we eat more interesting and flavorful varieties of food.
There are many variations to how to make these changes; the end result is what matters. And, it turns out it is much easier to prepare such meals than we anticipated. My wife describes herself as a "Reluctant Cook". She has organized her information in a format and way which is understandable on her website: The Reluctant Cook and I highly recommend you and your support network read her information.
The basic themes for change are as follows:
Low Fat Diet
It was never clear to me why I always heard that people had to go on low fat diet. Don't let fuzzy logic lead you down the wrong path on this one. It's not weight control; you need to adopt a low fat diet to stop using fuel which is gumming up your circulation system. If it clogs up, you die. A more technical way to say this is you are adopting a low fat diet to eliminate the problems associated with postprandial lipid surges; the "double trouble" thing.
Trans Fatty Acids
Stop eating as many Trans Fatty Acids as possible. This is a surprise to many of us and it's easy to pile them in because they are store bought items. Essentially, we have compromised the serious onslaught of disease and death in exchange for the food industry to reduce their inventory management costs by having longer shelf life for their products. I don't remember endorsing this compromise but neither was I an alert consumer.
This is a hard lesson to learn but the good news is you can take charge now. The evidence is strong that trans fat has deleterious impacts on blood lipids; ensuing studies have confirmed these metabolic findings and strengthened epidemiologic support for an important adverse effect on risk of coronary heart disease.
Glycemic Sugars Spikes
Glycemic Sugars Spikes do terrible damage to our precious arteries; sugar when consumed creates a tremendous pressure surge throughout our circulation system. We consume significant amounts of sugar in many different forms routinely. This is not about having a candy bar now and then. The problem is unknown to us we are consuming sugar when we don't appreciate which produces a significant and recurring surging spike in our system. Think about this in a way that a stream of water with any sort of current would erode the bank away with just a constant routine applied pressure. Now think about such a constant surge with a very delicate and inflamed circulatory system.
In terms of sweeteners you might use, I have determined that a natural sweetener called Stevia is a better choice instead of other sweeteners. It's now easy to buy and is as easy to use as Equal and Splenda but with a zero rating for the Glycemic Fluctuation Index which is great. It's a case where changing a brand really does not require any taste changes. Altering cooking styles to a fresher selection by adopting a low fat diet will also help significantly without major effort to reduce other unknown additives.
You should consider Antioxidants as important additives you need to add to your system to help it heal and bring power back to an ailing engine. Free radicals are the natural by-products of many processes within and among cells. They are also created by exposure to various environmental factors, tobacco smoke and radiation, for instance. "Free radicals" can cause damage to cell walls, certain cell structures, and genetic material within the cells. In the worst case scenario and over a long time period, such damage can become irreversible and lead to disease. Antioxidants play the housekeeper's role, "mopping up" free radicals before they get a chance to do harm in your body. Your best bet is to eat a diet rich in fruits, veggies, and whole grains. Sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, cantaloupe, and mangoes are great sources of antioxidants.