I’m consuming lots of sugar – really? Tell me where.
Truth is, I’m probably consuming about 25 percent or less of the sugar of the standard American diet.
I lost 40 pounds in seven months. I have kept that weight off through that diet for 10 years. My blood markers and blood pressure are all good at age 58. But I’m in no position to give tips? I only wish I could be as perfect as you.
They contain lectins, which are a natural toxin that can hinder digestion and damage the intestinal lining. Lectins are a protein that plants use to defend themselves against bugs and other predators.
Portion control is a big help, too. Most people – especially in America – eat WAY too much food.
Nearly any visitor to America who eats in our restaurants always comments on the HUGE sizes of our portions. They are correct, and it’s one of the reasons Americans are so fat.
Booze is infrequent. And most of it is hard seltzer, which has about 2 grams of sugar. I usually have one of them. Contrast that with a can of Coke, which has 39 grams.
So, you are pretty full of shit when you say I consume way too much sugar. The average American consumes 71 grams of sugar per day; I’ll rarely surpass 20-25.
Avoiding stuff like high fructose corn syrup – which is liquid sugar and is packed into SO many processed foods – is a big help in reducing sugar intake.
Yeah, all potatoes are a problem, especially skinless, especially overcooked and over-mashed. For a balanced diet you can keep some quantity of them, maybe focus on the time of the year you can find the ones you can eat with skins, boiled just barely enough, refrigerated and eaten the next day without reheating beyond body-temp (some of the starch converts to resistant starch during refrigeration, which is starch that you can’t digest, so it doesn’t turn into blood glucose, and furthermore it preferentially feeds some species of gut bacteria that help slow down the digestion of the rest of the carbs you do absorb; you can pull the same refrigeration trick with rice and pasta too). If going keto however… probably best if no more potatoes, you need your heavily restricted carbs to concentrate on high micronutrient density, so it has to be greens or other lively colors.
Dairy is not a problem in general, just the sweet/defatted stuff and the wet cheeses. Fermented stuff like kefir and yoghurt should be fine (just watch for sugars on the label), dry cheeses should be fine, those are almost entirely protein and fat, and the saturated fats from dairy according to dr. Lustig are some of the ones that are a net-positive for health (he gets into the different classes of fats and their different effects here).
If you were going for a balanced diet you could keep some of those, just in lower quantities, with a focus on high fibre, which slows down the sugar digestion, so berries because they have a lot of skin and seed per unit of weight, or other fruit that require some chewing force (no more bananas, not ripe ones anyway; you could occasionally have a smaller one that’s green-yellow, just at the point when it starts to be peelable and slightly sweet - green bananas also have some of the greatest natural concentrations of that resistant starch I mentioned above). For slower digestion of carbs you would also lean toward sour tastes with your fruit choices, e.g. Granny Smith or just pick less ripe ones. But in full-on keto… I can’t say how much fruit can stay in… maybe only special occasions, once a month or less, IDK.
Not quite sure what that’s supposed to mean. If you stick with “clean” spirits not mixed with any sugar the only source of calories will be the ethanol, which is not metabolized to glucose and in fact keeps the same liver machinery busy as the glucose processing, so it slows down glucose release into the blood until your liver is done with the alcohol, resulting in lower blood glucose than you would’ve had otherwise. You just keep the portions down so you’re still mostly feeding yourself with fat and protein calories, not alcohol calories, and your keto should be fine.
Meh, a quick search gives me examples of raw foods as being high in lectins, while healthy diet advice pretty much universally recommends in favor of legumes. Here I thought you cut them out just to keep your total carbs low enough for keto, that would’ve made more sense to me. 
Well, I’ve never done well with pure keto. Just too much saturated fat, which ends up coming out the other end for me in liquid form. I’m probably a modified Paleo, if I had to classify my diet.
I trim legumes because of the lectins and because of the carb content. I also don’t like to blast my family out of the house with farts.
Thanks for your info. in your response. Much appreciated!
Note how your source says lectins should be soaked overnight before eating, and that reduces any inflammation risk. All of my sources say the same, but I usually don’t do that kind of advance meal prep.
So, I just skip lectins. If you want to eat them, knock yourself out. Unlike our pal fred, I don’t judge. I’m simply telling you what works for me, and I have spent HUNDREDS of hours over the last decade researching medical journals, research studies, nutritionists, doctors, etc., for my information.
Again, in summary: Eliminate white flours, industrial seed oils and sugars, and you’re 80 percent of the way there. That’s more than good enough and a BIG improvement for most people.
it’s sad on how almost everything has been polarized to the level where you’re either for or against something. there’s no amicable or reasonable middle ground to be had anymore.
it’s also terrible that there is very little research done without bias, there’s almost always some sort of agena. there is some out there, but it’s almost impossible to find because data can be twisted to support whatever viewpoint is desired.
le sigh…
I know. So, in order to avoid the whole controversy, I go ahead and eat/drink whatever the hell I want! 
Seriously, tho, I was in a sort of danger zone healthwise. Through unusual circumstances I found a new Endocrinologist who set me straight. I cut the bread and as much sugar as I could, cut the super-processed stuff, stepped up the PT and I dropped 52 pounds over 6 months. Kept it off, too. Today, I eat a little bread, because if you think I am going through life without bread, you are out of your mind! 
After a while you get good at managing things. With little to no drugs. A better way to fly, if you ask me.
Yep, this. Once I saw keto-ish changes worked and would make me way too thin I stopped that stuff (didn’t take 3 months) and just went for a sort of balanced format with about 50% carbs by weight (less if calculated as calories), but keeping them all high-fibre and preferably always mixed with substantial protein and fats (other half of the weight; there’s even desserts that have this property if you know where to look!) and that slows them down enough that there’s no blood glucose problem (my long-term blood glucose seen via the glycated haemoglobin test comes out perfect). Of course the blood glucose problem is also helped by higher activity levels since glucose doesn’t cause problems if it’s used as fuel for movement and doesn’t just linger.
For me, in the end, it´s all about finding the right balance and not getting too crazy about what I eat and what not. My mind wants to be at ease, that´s as important for me as eating the right stuff.
I´m all into healthy eating but also I don´t see myself reading many studies or whatsoever (what has mankind done before studies 
) …respect to whoever does that though.
As always I listen to my body and trust my intuition, that usually does not fail me
PS: the beans that i eat are pre soaked in a glass when i buy them and will be cooked aswell so I´m not anxious about a few beans…the people around me should be! 
But to be honest lentils are not the easiest for my body to handle that´s why I avoid them on a regular basis but still eat them from time to time
I will add to the many great (not all) responses above: Been nearly full carnivore with the exception of small amounts of organic fruits and cottage cheese since this past June/July. Before that I was keto-ish for about five years so the transition was easy/minimal. Years ago I tried strict vegan for two years; the worst two years regarding my mental and physical health. I am now healthier (have the medical data showing it) and feel better with more energy than a mid-lifer typically does. I work out with weights at home four days a week, get my steps in (walking, hiking), and spend much of my free time reading studies and learning about all facets of maintaining excellent health into retirement and beyond.
Limited sugars in the form of whole fruits are not bad for you. As someone mentioned above, sugars from simple sources (candy, juices, shit food, etc.) is where the trouble comes from.
Vegetables in all forms are highly overrated regarding their potency (vit and minerals) and our bodies ability/need to digest them fully. The same for grains/carbs. I have never felt better both physically and mentslly since switching to a mostly ketogenic (protiens and fat energy sources) diet.
Much of the “traditional” information regarding diet has been driven by the lobbying efforts of food industry giants. The food pyramid for example was written by lobbyists representing the grain industry and adopted by the gov due to pressures of grain overproduction (at that time) and the dollars offerred to re-election funds. It continues to this day. The profit margins on junk processed food is huge, on healthy foods not so much. Our medical establishment is not profitabke when helping folks live a healthy and pill-free life and they are part ofnthe problem as well. The average medical school graduate gets abkut eight hours of training in dietarty health. This is on purpose. It’s a real shame. Be wary of where you get your information (including my post). Do much research, experiment for yourself, find what works for you long term.
When looking at the govs own data and independant research data it is clear that the majority of our current populations healthcare needs are, to a large degree, the result of eating too much (food addictions), too much processed food (shit food/drinks), and a lack of regular exercise (strength and cardio needed).
Good for you asking the question! Most folks look for the easy answers in the form of a pharmaceutical pill, etc. You are choosing to do the hard work, and it is hard. Changing one’s habits is difficult but with time and determination you become a winner: A healthier and stonger individual.
It is still challenging regardless of the history. I was in my mid-40s when I suddenly started putting weight on, and it has taken me a decade to learn how to sort of keep it in check. I went from a muscular 230, up to 280, and back down to 250 or so.
The first thing I did that made a difference for me was applying one rule. Before I bought anything, I ask, would I have found this in my grandmother’s kitchen? While she didn’t diet, it gets most of the processed crap, soda, and snack foods that aren’t fruits and veggies.
Even small changes can make a big difference. Pick a couple of things to change and work on them for a while.
I replaced soda with water, and started keeping carrots around for a snack. I used to eat sugary cereal for breakfast, and I switched to quick oats with fruit or a little brown sugar.
The biggest thing I learned early on was to plan two trips a week to the grocery store, that way I always had fresh fruit and veggies. If they are fresh you will enjoy them more. My favorite sweet item is pineapple, and I can buy a whole one for about 1/10 the price, and doing a bit more prep changes the way you look at food. It also means less packaging too.
You will have bad days and weeks, it is ok. Sometimes the upside is learning what you did wrong. Thanksgiving is an odd day to discuss this, given that I smoked a pork loin today, and had some sort of cheesy green bean casserole, so this was certainly a cheat day.
I’m buying a cargo eBike this weekend, so I’ll be able to go whenever I want. I don’t drive, so have never had a car and up until 6 years ago I lived in Vancouver (for the previous 10) so everything was literally within walking distance. however, I am now somewhere very remote, have sciatica so can barely walk and the bus stop is a good 500m from my place, so getting around was only possible with my son-in-law being a good sport to give me a lift. this bike will give me a lot of independence again!
I have thought about picking up a Lectric ebike just to reduce the wear and tear on my 20 year old WRX. They have a crazy good black Friday sale too.
sciatica sucks … I had issues with it for a couple years
Lectric is a solid brand, but their batteries aren’t UL certified yet. they’re going to be but aren’t as of yet from the last I read…tho maybe the new XPeat might?
I’m looking at the Volt Bike Kodiak cargo.
Re: nuts & seeds, I will mention one recent thing I found was not doing good things for me: a lot of nuts&seeds are very high in omega-6 fats, and if your meat intake isn’t dominated by organic/grass-fed (reasonable in omega-3 content) you could get an overall pro-inflammatory tilt depending on what nuts you’re having.
For the last 5+ years my breakfast has been made up of about 2 spoons’ worth of nuts/seeds with small sips of liquid yoghurt. I sometimes come back to them later in the day if I need a snack. And lately I had settled into a combo of almonds and peanuts; turns out, some of the worst omega-6 offenders (even had sunflower seeds in the combo a while back, those are even worse). Since I found out I started shifting more into walnuts & pistachios (plus a few raisins just because the walnuts are so bitter on their own); still not perfect for 3:6 ratio but some of the closest available.
