[RDavidson]

Non-offensivible, meaning not wheat or corn based?
Quinoa gets the thumbs up.
Brown rice, not so sure. Brown rice actually has phytates and lectins which bind to vitamins and minerals and inhibit their absorption. Perhaps this is a small fact that has been over stated, as we all know often happens (particularly in the nutrition world). But, something to note is that white rice is by far the highest consumed of all rice types and has been for the longest amount of time. Perhaps there's something to that.

In terms of dairy, I actually drink very little milk. I like milk quite a bit, but it doesn't really have a place in my diet when I eat cheddar cheese (cut from a block), greek yogurt, and cottage cheese regularly.

I love veggies and actually eat organic spinach and/or organic broccoli daily. Additionally I include organic powdered super greens to my post workout shakes. I don't eat a lot of fruit. I'll have an occasion organic gala apple or organic banana.

The only meat I eat daily are eggs (organic cage free). If I eat lunch meat, I buy Hormel Natural, which is nitrate free. If I buy ground beef, I get grass fed organic most of the time. I know chicken products can be "dirty" but I eat them (Perdue frozen chicken breasts and things along those lines) with moderate regularity. If I buy fish, I buy wild caught (typically sockeye salmon).

[Tyson]

I actually think your diet is quite excellent, overall    I'd just switch any wheat/rye/barley grains for other starches like tubers, rice (especially Uncle Ben's Original parboiled), or beans.  I'd be moderately strict about avoiding corn, but absolutely anal about anything wheat based. 

Dairy is less bad when it's cheese or yogurt/kefir, as some of the bad stuff gets eaten by the bugs during creation.  And IME, dairy is not as bad as wheat.  If you're gonna start small, don't worry about the dairy, focus on the wheat. 

[Folsom]

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-definitive-guide-to-resistant-starch/#axzz3FPdpQGdY

Well, maybe I'll do more precooking, see how that goes.


The one meat I would not consume even if I lacked the A antigen, is pork. It increases autoimmunity, and perhaps other things, as it has been observed pork eaters have increased indican levels in urine. That means bad gut flora.

[RDavidson]

I actually think your diet is quite excellent, overall    I'd just switch any wheat/rye/barley grains for other starches like tubers, rice (especially Uncle Ben's Original parboiled), or beans.  I'd be moderately strict about avoiding corn, but absolutely anal about anything wheat based. 

Dairy is less bad when it's cheese or yogurt/kefir, as some of the bad stuff gets eaten by the bugs during creation.  And IME, dairy is not as bad as wheat.  If you're gonna start small, don't worry about the dairy, focus on the wheat.

Thanks for the tips. Honestly, I don't eat a lot of wheat products now. I enjoy my oatmeal and Bob's Red Mill Organic High Fiber 7 grain hot cereal, but can pretty easily cut wheat out. I was actually ultra low carbing (30g carbs daily) for awhile trying out a pretty hardcore fat loss method (similar to Atkins), so virtually all my carbs were from veggies. The problem was unless I ate A TON of spinach or salmon, I was becoming depleted in important vitamins, like potassium......which is pretty important especially if you weight train hard like I do. Another problem was after 4-6 weeks I started getting stomach cramps, likely because I had messed up my gut's bacterial balance. But anyway, wrapping my head around all this isn't that hard, honestly. Because dairy has a lot of carbs (from sugar) I had very little in my diet (other than cheese) at that time too. After trying this, I don't recommend Atkins or similar diets like this long term (ie more than 2 months), ESPECIALLY if you aren't in very good health to begin with. I know some people can do it and seem fine (people doing Paleo diets), but not all. Not me anyway.

Maybe I'll substitute rice based hot cereals, rather than wheat?

[Folsom]

Davidson,

Do you know your blood and Lewis types?

[RDavidson]

Davidson,

Do you know your blood and Lewis types?

I don't know exactly, but know I'm a universal donor....which I think is type O?

[Folsom]

I don't know exactly, but know I'm a universal donor....which I think is type O?

Correct. You'll lose weight easier consuming red meat as you please. I'd try HIIT for exercise, not necessarily anything like cross fit. It's easy to do in half an hour.

You have the higher level of IAP, even if your FUT2 gene is the less common. You can tell it's expression with Lewis type - although one Lewis type is ambugious, it acts like a non-secretor. (One of many pubmedss on them)

[RDavidson]

Correct. You'll lose weight easier consuming red meat as you please. I'd try HIIT for exercise, not necessarily anything like cross fit. It's easy to do in half an hour.

Yup, I already do HIIT style lift sessions. I'm drenched in sweat in 15-20 minutes. I also do some Olympic lifting here and there, just to work explosiveness and round out a strength session. My workouts vary based on what phase I may be in (ie cutting, maintenance, or building) as everyone should do. Interestingly, my body composition has gotten better since returning to normal, following the hardcore cutting phase. I attribute part of that to some of the healthy foods I ate more of (like red meat) during that time and continue to eat much more regularly than I used to.

[Folsom]

Red meat make act as a prebiotic for you. Bananas too, perhaps.

As I talked about earlier, don't forget Omega 3's it sounds like you'll be fine.

Btw, I'm jealous, so have low IAP, and will have diminished bowl activity through high meat consumption despite vegetable intake. (I've done it, I can confirm those studies on PubMed  would be funnier if it didn't cause more damage)

[RDavidson]

Red meat make act as a prebiotic for you. Bananas too, perhaps.

As I talked about earlier, don't forget Omega 3's it sounds like you'll be fine.

Btw, I'm jealous, so have low IAP, and will have diminished bowl activity through high meat consumption despite vegetable intake. (I've done it, I can confirm those studies on PubMed  would be funnier if it didn't cause more damage)

Interesting. Good thing I like both those things. I grew up in rural Kansas (the land of amber waves of grain). I ate what was put in front of me (often veggies grown from our garden at dinner) or didn't eat. I'm really not picky and enjoy veggies quite a bit. It helps also that my mom is Filipino and cooks ethnic dishes. Growing up, I got a taste for a pretty wide variety of foods.
Yup, I take Omega 3 / DHA supplements (primarily fish oil pills), if I don't eat fish (like salmon). I know pills aren't the best source if you're supplementing, but they're convenient. I might switch to Carlson's liquid fish oil at some point (maybe when I finish my pills), though it is expensive. I've used it off and on in the past. Great product, if you've never tried it. Very potent.
Yes, I know that I am fortunate to have good genetics (thank you mom) and I try to take care of them. I'm 37 and frequently get asked if I'm a college athlete, by students. People my age and older don't ask anything because they just assume I'm a student. Yes, I'm bragging........but I'm 37 . I won't be able to keep up the act a whole lot longer, but I'm trying.

[DaveC113]

The secret is be active,run,walk,exersise,you could eat what you want...my $0.02...

My diet didn't seem to matter at all until somewhere around 33 yrs old. Just after I became more sensitive to my diet I got a job where a lot of my time was spent in Denmark with an unlimited expense account... we were eating and drinking very well.  I wasn't exercising as much as normal during this time because I was traveling so much... and I gained weight!

Since then I have had to learn to adjust my diet to stay healthy and control my weight despite staying very active, I even did some Enduro mountain bike racing this year and did ok. But no matter what I do, if I get addicted to sugar I'm going to get fat, it's as simple as that. If I moderate carbs and sugars i don't get fat. This has a lot more to do with what I eat that how much I eat.

It's really a huge pain in the ass sometimes... the constant working out and dietary awareness required to stay fit requires some dedication, if anything I want to get even more fit as I get older to counteract aging as much as possible so I'm looking at adding more to the routine at this point. I think some sort of yoga is key to aging gracefully.

I do think some foods have addictive natures, sugar without a doubt, but wheat and dairy products can raise blood sugar quickly even without added sugars depending on how they are processed. People can be attracted to them, just not as strongly as with sugar so it's less noticeable. Some good info in this thread...

[Folsom]

I gained weight as a child. It and complications have interfered with every part of my life, and now I'm not a kid anymore...

I've always wondered what it was like to be young and feel normal!

For a lot of people gut permeability has to do with aging. *cough* wheat *cough*

The same scientist who found out that no marker has to be found with blood tests for a person to have problems with wheat, later make a bullshit study to "disprove" himself after the backlash he got from the original. 

[RDavidson]

DaveC113, you might consider increasing your protein and maybe fat intake and just watch your carb intake as it sounds like you already do. Protein is the building block of all body tissues, including skin, hair, internal organs. Getting enough or even a slight excess of protein helps ensure that your body can regenerate effectively......which we know becomes more difficult with age. So if you're hard on your body, and you're above age 35 or so, you have to be a bit more aggressive about making sure you take care of yourself (ie proper rest and proper nutrition). Rest is SUPER important. I can't stress this part enough.

[DaveC113]

Yup, I do eat a decent amount of fat and protein... I do a fruit smoothie for breakfast and add plain (no sugar added) full-fat yogurt and 50% protein hemp powder. The hemp protein is awesome and you can get it for about $30 for 3 lbs on Amazon. I also make protein bars with it.

But the sugar rush is just so tempting, I can't even keep sweets around the house... 

[Folsom]

Confess your antigen Dave !

[OzarkTom]

Two books to read, or just read the reviews on Amazon. This will help anyone struggling with their health. One is Dangerous Grains and the other is Wheat Belly. The grains that are on the market today is very dangerous, even whole wheat. These processed grain is not what  mom or grandma ate. On the next generation of crops, they are planning on spraying it with agent orange to kill the weeds. Two weeks ago even Dr. Oz had a show on this and is furious.

[RDavidson]

Yup, I do eat a decent amount of fat and protein... I do a fruit smoothie for breakfast and add plain (no sugar added) full-fat yogurt and 50% protein hemp powder. The hemp protein is awesome and you can get it for about $30 for 3 lbs on Amazon. I also make protein bars with it.

But the sugar rush is just so tempting, I can't even keep sweets around the house... 

Yeah, I have a sweet tooth too. This is quite literally an addiction, which is why you get cravings for junk. When I was ultra low carbing for awhile over the summer, I would've killed for cereal ; Think Fruity Pebbles and Frosted Flakes and that kind of junk. I love cereal.
Though ultra low carbing was very tough, particularly during the initial 10 day depletion, the cravings largely subsided after awhile. Even now, though I'm back to a normal diet (If It Fits Your Macros) and I could eat junk daily, I don't. Of course, now and then I'll treat myself to something junky. That's a good thing. The point is not to totally deprive yourself if you REALLY want something. This is key, as it can actually make you more disciplined. When you deprive yourself too hardcore, you might go overboard when you eventually "reward" yourself.
Keeping sweets out of the house is probably best, though. This forces you to go out and get whatever junk you want, and that alone is enough of a deterrent for most people with even a smidgen of self control.

[DaveC113]

Confess your antigen Dave !

I would if I had any idea what my antigen is... 

Ryan, I agree with the 10-day detox from sugar, it does take a while for the cravings to go away which is why it's best just to not keep it around the house... I will eat it.

[Folsom]

I've been eating cooked and cooled rice. Well I might re-heat it again (not microwave).

I can confirm the resistant starch factor is very friendly, very good, for anyone aiming to keep blood sugar and cravings down. You can also eat a little more. I'm impressed with the information, it made my general digestion feel nice.

[RDavidson]

I knew that over cooking rice (and oatmeal and likely most grains) to where it is gooey mush, greatly increases it's glycemic load. It's interesting that cooling it will decrease the glycemic load. I'm sure this varies a bit on how much the grains are cooked to begin with. I'll have to investigate this. I'm wondering if this might apply to other foods, like potatoes and yams.