The research goes on! It would seem we would know how and what to eat, since humans have been doing it a long time, lol, but the research and the info out there is conflicting, unclear, confusing. I'm re-reading Gary Taube's book Good Calories, Bad Calories, which details the conflicting, and sometimes suppressed research about nutrition science, and how a fringe theory--that dietary fat causes heart disease--became gospel. Methodically he breaks it down and confirms what I had seen in my own family: cream and butter does not make the eater fat.... TOO MUCH cream and butte--or anything else--can. Calories count, but we don't have to deny ourselves those tasty fats due to a fear of heart disease.
As he points out, because of the "fear of fat", we have instead mightily increased our simple carbohydrates intake... and those excess carb calories have made us fat. There's compelling science to it and I'll include a few posts to detail it in the future. But as for now, I'm adjusting my dietary advice to patients to include healthy fats (oils, nuts and nut butters, avocados, for example), more veggies and "green leafies," and protein (yep, it includes red meat!) and less starches and sugars. Above all, calories count! So eat the ones that avoid big insulin surges and crashes (sugars) that make you crave carbs and choose more of those tasty fats/proteins/vegetables... a first step to avoiding weight gain, and beginning healthy weight loss and maintenance.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Sunday, February 14, 2010
What to eat
I'm doing lots of reading on nutrition and health. In a world where food, vitamins, so called "neutraceuticals" or "medical food" can make health claims, it's hard to know even what to eat!
How has this come to pass? In a world full of information we are at a loss to even know what to eat. What have people done for the last 1,000 milennia? Well, I suppose they ate food. Only now, with so much information --and money--at stake have we become confused about what to put in our mouths.
We seem to band together around the get-rich-quick model, in this case a kind of eat-quick, no-muss-no-fuss style of filling our bellies. Why? Why have we lost the connection between our food supply and our kitchens?
My old joke is "it's a marketing world." We are so inundated with information, much of it unfounded claims, but so firmly stated, that we begin to believe it. This juice is high in anti-oxidants, that berry will enhance your immune system.... always a silver bullet.
But the fact is, we get our best nutrition and vitamins and trace minerals and yes, antioxidants, from paying attention to the food supply. Better food! Not more additives! Not more vitamins and supplements. Better food. It is, in fact, as simple as that. Unfortunately, obtaining better food is another matter entirely. And that will be the subject of the next series of posts. Watch this space to get ideas about what to eat.
How has this come to pass? In a world full of information we are at a loss to even know what to eat. What have people done for the last 1,000 milennia? Well, I suppose they ate food. Only now, with so much information --and money--at stake have we become confused about what to put in our mouths.
We seem to band together around the get-rich-quick model, in this case a kind of eat-quick, no-muss-no-fuss style of filling our bellies. Why? Why have we lost the connection between our food supply and our kitchens?
My old joke is "it's a marketing world." We are so inundated with information, much of it unfounded claims, but so firmly stated, that we begin to believe it. This juice is high in anti-oxidants, that berry will enhance your immune system.... always a silver bullet.
But the fact is, we get our best nutrition and vitamins and trace minerals and yes, antioxidants, from paying attention to the food supply. Better food! Not more additives! Not more vitamins and supplements. Better food. It is, in fact, as simple as that. Unfortunately, obtaining better food is another matter entirely. And that will be the subject of the next series of posts. Watch this space to get ideas about what to eat.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
New Tonic News
Good morning! This is the opening post for this exciting blog. The New Tonic promise is to bring trusted information to people about their health: medicine, healthy lifestyle, healthy choices--combining the perspectives of the Western medical world (that is, a trained MD, me) and integrative medicine (alternate medical choices beyond Western medicine such as diet, exercise, lifestyle choices as well as other choices such as herbs, supplements, Eastern medicine (from a boarded holistic practitioner, also--me).
Of course, I include reviews of the literature and recent research from East and West beyond my own training. My plan, with my diverse training, is to help you wort through the unedited information you find on the web and also offer you a multiplicity of approaches to your health issues.
With you questions and participation, we can begin to approach health holistically--and perhaps in a better way than we're used to. That is, if we can prevent disease, we can reduce our dependence on our broken system, and start to buid a new one!
Please join me in this exciting process. Ask your questions today!
Of course, I include reviews of the literature and recent research from East and West beyond my own training. My plan, with my diverse training, is to help you wort through the unedited information you find on the web and also offer you a multiplicity of approaches to your health issues.
With you questions and participation, we can begin to approach health holistically--and perhaps in a better way than we're used to. That is, if we can prevent disease, we can reduce our dependence on our broken system, and start to buid a new one!
Please join me in this exciting process. Ask your questions today!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
