Why We Eat (Too Much) Thread 5

[TheLeadbetterLife]

Happy New Year regulars, lurkers and newcomers!

Welcome to thread 5 of discussion, encouragement and advice inspired by the book Why We Eat (Too Much), by Dr Andrew Jenkinson.

The basic principles of this "diet" (it's not one in the traditional sense, as it's meant to be a permanent set of changes), are as follows:

• cut out ultra-processed food
  
• massively reduce sugar, carbs, refined flours and wheat
  
• eat a wide variety of vegetables, whole grains and fruit
  
• eat full fat dairy and other healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil
  
• improve the ratio of omega 3 to 6 by eating greens, fish, eggs and grass-fed meat, and cutting out ultra-refined seed oils
  

Important lifestyle changes include getting plenty of rest, relaxation and sleep, as well as taking a moderate amount of exercise (or more, if you like that sort of thing).

You don't need to count calories (in fact, you shouldn't), though it may help to count carbs or glycemic load, at least to begin with, until you get the hang of it.

Some of us share recipes by following each other on Copy Me That - www.copymethat.com/recipebox/the-leadbetter-life/6661160/

As well as the book mentioned in the title, the principles are similar to those espoused by the likes of Rangan Chatterjee, Robert Lustig, Tim Spector and Michael Mosley.

There are many successes on this thread, and the main thing is that we are aiming to make permanent, sustainable changes to adjust our weight set-points downwards.

Join us!

[Billybagpuss]

Checking in.

Todays aim, buy more oranges, don’t buy crisps.

[samthebordercollie]

Thanks for the new thread @TheLeadbetterLife! Marking my place. Love that you mention the other authors who all approve of nuts

[SerenadeOfTheSchoolRun]

Oh I didn’t know Tim Spector was into this woe. I am a fan of his through the Zoe Covid app do will have to have a look.

I have been reading Zoe Harcombe recently which is similar in some ways. She says no nuts nor any avocados. But her justification is the she is trying to keep high fat foods away from high carb foods (and those foods are high in both) and I am not 100% convinced about that. The omega 6s are quite high in most nuts though?

[TheLeadbetterLife]

What's Zoe Harcombe's problem with high carbs and high fat together? Every time I read a new thing like that, I worry that I'm Doing It All Wrong and start frantically googling. I'm resisting the urge.

Nuts are high in omega 6, yes, but they have so many other health benefits that some of us feel that as long as we're losing weight then they can't be that big of a problem. I eat lots of them, as well as 100% nut butters. Jenkinson does seem to be a bit of an outlier on nuts.

I'm very focussed on feeding the microbiome at the moment, having got down to my goal weight (though I'm thinking of moving my goalposts and seeing if I can lose a few more kilos), and nuts have lots of fibre.

[TheLeadbetterLife]

Oh, and my diet should be pretty high in omega 3, as I eat green vegetables, flax and chia seeds, and a fish oil supplement every day, as well as only eating grass fed meat / eggs.

Also, while I don't have the incredible discipline of thread-dwellers like sam and Billy when it comes to sugar and wheat, I am very strict on avoiding UPFs and seed oils.

Hopefully that means my 3-6 ratio isn't too bad.

[Aria999]

It certainly makes life simpler than I have only ever read one book about diet.

I read an article suggesting eating fat before carbohydrates actually improves your GI so not sure what that's about. Also avocado is one of the main things I eat now. So I will give her a miss lol.

In other news our entire family has covid. At least, we have one positive test for DS (6) and everyone else is ill so I assume we all do. We are as vaccinated as it's possible to be so hopefully it will continue mild. Dd (23 mos) is obviously not vaccinated, so far she has a bad cold, a sore mouth and nosebleeds every night.

[Billybagpuss]

@TheLeadbetterLife

Oh, and my diet should be pretty high in omega 3, as I eat green vegetables, flax and chia seeds, and a fish oil supplement every day, as well as only eating grass fed meat / eggs.

Also, while I don't have the incredible discipline of thread-dwellers like sam and Billy when it comes to sugar and wheat, I am very strict on avoiding UPFs and seed oils.

Hopefully that means my 3-6 ratio isn't too bad.

Oh I have no discipline with wheat. Sugar I don’t get how I’ve managed to do it. I think January has been quite high carb, but my aim is to get through it with zero sugar and zero weight gain

[TheFoundation]

What's Zoe Harcombe's problem with high carbs and high fat together

There's 2 things:

1. The human body needs sugar to function, which it can either make from fat, or use ready made by eating it. If you eat it, that's the easiest fuel, so your body will use that first. So if you eat fat with it, you simply store the fat.
   
   
2. Lots of food we find addictive is geared around the bliss point (Kcal from carbsx2 = kcals from fat), which food manufacturers have discovered is addictive, due to mimicking breast milk, the one food humans must eat and keep eating until they're super full, and the food we're evolved to scream for when we don't get it.

[Aria999]

Sounds like Zoe harcombe doesn't buy into the weight set point theory then.

As the point of that is your body will do whatever it takes to be the weight it wants to be, as long as you don't muddy the signals with excess insulin and omega 6.

Though I guess if you are not having much sugar anyway the issue doesn't arise.

[Aria999]

I think this was the article I was thinking about. It's only a pilot study though.

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/295901

[TheFoundation]

Sounds like Zoe harcombe doesn't buy into the weight set point theory then

What made you come to that conclusion @Aria999? I don't see it, overt or implied..?

[samthebordercollie]

@TheFoundation

What's Zoe Harcombe's problem with high carbs and high fat together

There's 2 things:

1) The human body needs sugar to function, which it can either make from fat, or use ready made by eating it. If you eat it, that's the easiest fuel, so your body will use that first. So if you eat fat with it, you simply store the fat.

2) Lots of food we find addictive is geared around the bliss point (Kcal from carbsx2 = kcals from fat), which food manufacturers have discovered is addictive, due to mimicking breast milk, the one food humans must eat and keep eating until they're super full, and the food we're evolved to scream for when we don't get it.

Yes, there is no 'natural' food with both fat and sugar that exists..,with the exception of breast milk. Which is why processed foods such as ice-cream and chocolate are so addictive.

[Aria999]

@TheFoundation

Just because if weight set point theory is true then you shouldn't have to worry about details like what you eat together- your body would take care of it?

Happy to be corrected! I haven't read her.

[TheFoundation]

It's more complicated... lots of the theories we hear are true, but they're all working together and all affect each other. It's like saying cars go if they've got petrol in them. It's true, but so many other things are at play, like do they have wheels? Is the fuel being transferred to the engine correctly etc.

It's not all going to come down to one theory.

ZH is very interesting. Worth a look, if you're interested

[Oblahdeeoblahdoe]

Thanks for the new thread and recap of the principles. I'm back on it after a crazy few weeks.

[MondayYogurt]

I'm sure he's been mentioned before on previous threads but I'm really enjoying watching Dr Pradeep Jamnadas' videos on youtube. He's a cardiologist who espouses the same views as Jenkinson.

[TheLeadbetterLife]

If there’s no natural food with both fat and carbs, why are nuts and avocados a problem?

[TheFoundation]

@TheLeadbetterLife

If there’s no natural food with both fat and carbs, why are nuts and avocados a problem?

Because they're the exception to that rule. They do have fats and carbs. They're a very tiny section of food though. Generally speaking, nature doesn't put the two things together. And yet we create it so often... toast isn't addictive, but if you put butter on it, you create the bliss point, and you'll want more... And nobody has trouble eating too much sugar on its own, but mix it with fat (ice cream or cake), and it's hard to stop... nobody struggles with eating too much potato, but if you fry it up, we can't stop eating crisps...

It's a very dodgy, man-made combination. Our bodies actively want to be fat; it's an energy savings account, and who doesn't want to fill up their savings account as much as possible? So our bodies ask us for foods that achieve that goal as quickly as possible.

It's fascinating, when you look at evolution and biology.

[TheLeadbetterLife]

Sure, I get it when it comes to human-made combinations, we’re all supposed to be cutting out sugar and carbs, but can we eat bloody nuts or not?

Half these threads are taken up with nuts chat.

[littlefireseverywhere]

Would this sort of way of eating work if I’ve lots to lose?

[TheFoundation]

@TheLeadbetterLife

Sure, I get it when it comes to human-made combinations, we’re all supposed to be cutting out sugar and carbs, but can we eat bloody nuts or not?

Half these threads are taken up with nuts chat.

There are no rules.

[TheLeadbetterLife]

@littlefireseverywhere

Would this sort of way of eating work if I’ve lots to lose?

There’s no reason why not! Join us!

[Aria999]

If I stop eating avocados I will have to live on cheese alone. I think I'll keep them.

Also whenever I go through a phase of living mostly on avocado my set point drops attractively.

[TheFoundation]

There's a mountain of rules you could adhere to, but I'd bet my bottom dollar that if you give up flour and sugar, you'll be a healthy weight soon.

This should be the health tip (not just weight), but corporations have a heavy hand in what we're told, including the NHS guidelines and their 55% carb recommendation for a healthy diet. It's all business.

[silentpool]

I've mostly been sticking to the WOE but not much weight loss has happened.

I already eat a low sugar, very low processed food diet. I also don't use seed oils.

So, now I'm giving up wine for a few months and once I'm finished the wheat flour in the cupboard, will move to spelt flour. Hope that works. I'm also going to try acupuncture to see if that helps with the hormonal element of the weight gain.