Eating 3.0 (The Paleo Diet)

I'm feeling guilty about not updating the Build Better Sleep site for the last few days, but I've got this eating business on my mind...

Going from being *95% vegetarian to a diet that includes some meat, but excludes all grains and added sugar has been, to put it mildly, difficult.

You never realize how much of what we consume every day is out of the question:

• Breakfast - toast, bagels, cereal, porridge, muffins, juice
• Lunch - sandwiches, buns, jams, spreads, processed meat and cheese
• Dinner - bread, buns, any dessert you can think of
• Snacks - chips, nachos, cheese and crackers, soft drinks

The general "rule" I'm living by for the next week and a bit (with almost three weeks behind me - and I've passed up some fantastic looking food) is to eschew grains and sugars (except sugars naturally occurring in fruits or vegetables), eliminate beans - including soy beans and tofu, and not to eat anything my grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. The results of this experiment will be to see:

• How I feel - more/less energy
• If my sleep patterns change
• If my digestion changes
• If my **blood-work changes

I really don't like calling this whole thing a diet, as the word "diet" sounds so temporary and mostly driven by losing weight. I have lost some weight, but that's surely not the reason I'm giving this a go.

I suspect (and lots of others now believe as well - including my doctor) that the fast-burn carbohydrates from grain and sugar are the root cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and strokes. There's a lot of science behind this, and it's too involved to get into here. Suffice it to say that it's our amplified insulin responses to grains and sugar that cause this medical cascade of serious problems. And the cure is to stabilize a low level of insulin in your blood - just like nature intended. Ask anyone with diabetes how their insulin level responds to bread (whole wheat or regular) or sugar and see what they say.

I've been quite pleasantly surprised over the last few days how many people are interested in this "Paleo" thing. The "interested" outnumber the "you're a lunatic" about 3:1. But giving up the grains and sugar (because it's in everything) is really hard in our society if you should want to play along.

In my experience, limited as it's been, is that you really crave sugar and carbohydrates for the first week or two. All the while thinking "what can I eat?". After you get over the craving hump, you're still left with the "what can I eat" question, but answers are starting to appear all over the place. I can now go to almost any restaurant and get a good low-carb meal. And when we get home I have to overhaul the pantry and make it easier to find suitable food. It should be pretty simple.

If you've read here for a while, you'll know that this entire adventure was an accident - I stumbled across this "Paleo" idea (by the way, I hate that name. Let's call it "Eating 3.0"). While the results I'm hoping for are medical, I've read much about the whole "Eating 3.0/Paleo" lifestyle program, and I have to say that I like it - it makes sense to me:

1. Eat lots of plants and animals
2. Move around a lot at a slow pace
3. Lift heavy things
4. Run really fast once in a while
5. Get lots of sleep
6. Play
7. Get some sunlight every day
8. Avoid trauma
9. Avoid poisonous things
10. Use your mind

There's a great explanation behind each of these over at Mark's Daily Apple. It's mostly about doing what we've always done (until recently). No more worrying about how much we ate, or when we last hit the gym, or how we'll get some sleep before work tomorrow.

For now, the sugar/carb cravings are mostly gone (that has to be a good thing regardless of the long-term decision I make about this), and I'm feeling pretty good. None of my clothes fit, though.

I'll update this again as I get closer to an answer as to whether this is for me, and see if it's sustainable.

* I ate some fish, and a little chicken, turkey, and red meat on special occasions. But not very much.
** I'm concerned only with HDL, small-particle LDL, and triglyceride measurements. I've discovered that the general cholesterol numbers we've been fed for years at the doctors office are mostly useless.

An Ethical Tangent

Kathryn and Tavis were over for dinner last night. While Kathryn remains a committed vegetarian, Travis appreciates being a carnivore for one night. We had steak that I had barbequed.

Half way through my steak, listening to Kathryn talk about the ethics of eating factory made meat, and worrying about my health, I had another realization. There's got to be a way to incorporate 90% of the healthy food choices I've discovered, and remain more-or-less a vegetarian.

I looked on-line and, sure enough, there were lots of people out there with the same concerns, albeit mostly ethical. It looks like it's possible to have a "mostly paleolithic" diet (the paleo diet is the closest I've seen that comes to the ideal) if you were a vegetarian and were willing to incorporate eggs and fish. I'm willing to do that - to tell the truth the whole beef thing doesn't do much for me taste wise anymore.

So the food choices now, to obtain the 90% benefit, are:

• PROTEIN: Eggs, fish
• OILS AND FATS: Butter, Olive Oil
• FRUITS AND VEGETABLE: Everything except starchy vegetables (potatoes), easy on high sugar fruit (Bananas, Apples)
• NUTS AND LEGUMES: Most Nuts (Almonds, Cashews), No Legumes (Peanut Butter)
• GRAINS: White Rice, Quinoa
• DAIRY: Organic/Grass Fed Butter, Full Fat Greek Yogurt
• SWEETENERS: Splenda occasionally 

I'm hoping that with this change I'll feel better about my karma as well as better about my health.

Many who've learned about my new eating plan (I won't say diet, because that sounds so temporary) says "it's just like Atkins" - and much of it is. Actually, he's been redeemed quite a bit since his death. At any rate, I found this simple diagram that explains the difference between Atkins and Paleo from one of the blogs I checked out:

As you can see, Paleo incorporates most of Atkins, but doesn't allow/recommend any kind of sugar - real or fake. And it doesn't allow "low carb" processed food and grains like Atkins does - although I may just find that that's a part of my diet I don't want to give up (it's really hard when you crave Multi-Grain Cheerios at 8pm - although that's hardly low-carb). I'll read more to find out what the real health consequences of this are.

An interesting side-effect in all this is that I've lost about 7lbs in the last 10 days eating this way (leaving out the grains, the potatoes and the sugar). Not that I need to lose the weight, or even that that was some kind of benefit, but interesting nonetheless.

PS: Over the last week I've spent considerable time reading as much as I can about this, looking for contrarian positions on this whole paleo diet thing. I've yet to come up with anything that contradicts the research I found in Good Calories, Bad Calories, and Why We Get Fat. I'd recommend reading Why We Get Fat for a good overview of all the science in the first book - it's really inexpensive and you can download it onto whatever reader you use (Kindle, PC, Mac, Stone Tablet).

I'm pissed off

When my dad had multiple heart attacks in 1995, I took a look at my pudgy self, and said that I had to do something about it.

At first, it was a foray into supplements (remember I was yellow for a while from too much Beta Carotene?).

Then I did some more study, and found from multiple sources (they almost all agreed) that the healthiest diet you could have would be high fibre, low fat, and vegetarian (or mostly vegetarian).

Over the last 15 years, my cholesterol has been monitored every year (lately, several times a year) - the problem was always identified as low-HDL. I've seen countless doctors, now including the lead for stroke research in BC, countless interns, cardiologists, heart surgeons, and others. I we ever had a party, they probably couldn't all fit in my house. Everyone I ever met thought I was doing an admirable job - they were surprised I was able to ""stick to it" for so long

Every one of them knew I was a vegetarian - and most knew I was a "high fiber, low fat" person. As Gabe Mirkin used to tell me on the radio (which I listened to for a few years) "eat whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds" (the nuts and seeds were added in the last few years). EVERY SINGLE professional I ever talked to about diet reiterated - low fat, high fiber, no meat.

I really thought I knew what I was doing - and nobody every suggested otherwise. After pulling through the stroke two years ago, most people said to me "the reason you survived was because you were so healthy".

Bullshit.

After what I've learned in the last few days is still held as "controversial" because it seems to me that the following groups control what we think:

• doctors parrot what they're told - we've invested so much in the old paradigm, that we're unwilling to accept a new reality 
• the science of 1984 made some "conjectures" - the science was incomplete - which were later adopted by national organizations, like governments, as gospel (and nothing changes gospel ... it's too expensive)
• big pharma sold $27B in statin drugs in 2009, and spent >$2B lobbying congress - there's a problem and they're selling a fix
• big wheat and big soy lobby governments everywhere - the government of Canada has gone so far as to take control of the wheat board
• big meat, big milk, and big eggs have these messages too - you'd actually think that the meat/egg people would see this research as a marketing opportunity.

What I've learned is that

• Carbohydrates of any kind lower HDL and increase insulin in your bloodstream (to metabolize the sugar)
• Simple carbs and complex carbs aren't really that different in the insulin response they cause - a variance that now seems quite small - look at the Glycemic Indexes of all grains/grain-based-foods
• Low HDL is becoming a standard predictor of heart disease and stroke
• Carbohydrates of any kind raise insulin levels. Pure sugar has a glycemic index (GI) of 100, whole wheat bread 48-58, regular white bread 73
• I love cereal - so I eat the very best - Raisin Bran GI 61, Oatmeal GI 58

The bottom line, is that exactly what was predicted has happened to me. Too many carbs. Lots of veggies,  (sure, so my vitamin levels are just fine). I've just nearly died. Twice.

When you think about it, carbs are a fairly recent addition to our diet (meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds have been around forever), so their digestion is a new thing for us. Grain, especially cereal grains, are only in the last couple of hundred years. Even the potato (GI-85!) came from the New World, so it's a recent addition.

So based on this new-to-me information, I'm doing this for 30 days to see how it goes - I'll have my bloodwork redone and see where I stand. I suspect LDL and total cholesterol to rise slightly, but I expect my HDL to rise significantly. I just might lose weight too. I'm hopeful that the energy levels come back, my brain works better, and I get some sleep.

• lots and lots of nutritionally dense veggies
• a much smaller amount of low sugar fruit (the sugar is in the fruit) - replacing bananas and apples with strawberries and blackberries
• lots and lots of olive oil - anywhere I can put it, I will
• lots of meat from ruminants (cow, bison, lamb) - grass fed if I can get it - these animals were never meant to eat grain
• lots of nuts - almonds (raw) and cashews (raw)
• lots of eggs - this will be for breakfast on days I don't have a smoothie
• smoothies for breakfast - 1 can of coconut milk blended with lots of frozen berries and some flax seed - it actually tastes great
• no dairy at all except (maybe) butter 
• healthy butter (grass fed) or ghee (clarified butter) if I can find it
• no soy or soy products (tofu)

So here I go again .... another attempt to save my own life....

The Biggest Change I'm Making in 15 Years

This will probably startle most of you. And no, I haven't found Jesus.

This week, I was looking for the algorithm for my Zeo sleep manager - it's a well kept secret and I wanted to do some additional crunching of the data, so I went searching. I was led to a website called The Bulletproof Executive, and sure enough Dave A, the "Bulletproof Executive" knew the formula because he was friends with one of the founders at Zeo.

During my time hunting down this information on his site, I couldn't help but notice that, in addition to "sleep hacking" and "brain hacking", he had a section on "body hacking". I thought this would be pretty much the same thing as I do - mostly vegetarian, lots of complex carbs.

Wrong.

It was the total opposite of what I do. He calls it a modified Paleo diet - mostly meat, lots of fat (some saturated, which I've been told is evil), lots of low-glycemic vegetables, no breads or grains. Pretty much the diet our ancestors that lived in caves ate - but a little more high tech.

I dismissed him as a nutbar right away. But I thought "what the heck" and did some research on diets that were paleolithic in nature. I looked for search terms like:

The link between heart disease and saturated fat.
The link between complex carbohydrates and heart disease.

I wasn't too interested in the Paleo diet, but it was a great jumping off point.

What I found astounded me. Since I last took a serious look at this in 1995, much has been learned:

• When you reduce the animal content of your diet, you replace those calories with carbohydrates. They should have been replaced with healthy fats (olive oil). It's very hard to be a "low carb vegetarian".
• Saturated fat isn't evil. Actually the link between saturated fat and heart disease was debunked.
• Fat isn't evil. Fat is actually quite good. And the right kind of fat is even better.
• We eat sugar. Almost anything processed with grain in it is easily converted to sugar. Even the healthy bread I eat is converted to sugar. The cereal I love is converted to sugar. Even Raisin Bran, which I thought was pretty healthy, is sugar.
• With all this sugar, your insulin goes haywire. In my case, the insulin response, combined with my naturally low HDL (the "good" component of cholesterol), makes for very bad news. Things like I've experienced - heart disease and stroke.

I'm halfway through a book called Why We Get Fat, and it's basically a rewrite of Good Calories, Bad Calories, by Gary Taubes. Gary is a science writer (famous for the expose on the whole cold fusion thing), and has lots of praise for his investigative work. But don't think I'm taking his word on this. I just can't find any credible rebuttal to what he says. And tons of others (scientists, doctors), are now saying the same thing, and are angry with the government for sticking to this "complex carbs are good and saturated fat it bad" argument.

I consider that I've been unwittingly running an experiment on myself for 15 years - and the results are self evident. What I propose to do isn't hard for me - it'll be a change like I made in 1996. I'll take the best of what I know now and combine it, and try to come up with the best fit for me, starting now:

• Back to meat - the wilder the better - grass fed beef, buffalo, deer, wild sockeye salmon
• Eggs for breakfast - probably omelettes with lots of vegetables. No toast though.
• Vegetables that are low-glycemic - cucumber, pepper, asparagus, brocolli, cauliflower
• Fruits that are low glycemic - strawberries, blueberries, raspberries
• Oil - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Nuts - Cashews, Almonds
• Grains - Brown Rice sparingly, very little bread, no cereal
• Dairy - Not much - maybe cream on strawberries

So the net-net for you is no separate meal for Doug anymore. I'll pick and choose among what the rest of the meat-eaters are having. Just make my hamburger without the bun.

** Please no "I told you so's" here - because both of us thought I was doing a credible thing....That's the neat thing about science - facts are stubborn things.

The Observer Effect and Zeo

Most of you know that I've been using a Zeo Sleep Management system for the last few months to try and get a handle on my sleep - or more precisely, my lack of sleep.

Normally, I can count on a reasonable night if I've had some significant exercise the preceding day - on Saturday we rode a little over 30km and that seemed to be enough to trigger a reasonable night:

The parameter that I've been most concerned about is awakenings/night, but I also know that I feel much better during the day if I've received over an hour of deep sleep - like I did Saturday night.

I also did a relatively strenuous hike on Sunday. And a long bike-ride again yesterday. Sadly, those two nights aren't nearly as good.

Now I'm beginning to think that at least part of the issue is the actual measurement itself. This is known in scientific circles as the Observer Effect. This is where the actual measurement of something effects the thing your trying to measure.

The best example I know of this is trying to determine the exact tire pressure in a tire. The very act of taking the measurement will cause some of the air to leak out of the tire - effecting the number you get.

I'm suspecting that subconsciously (and sometimes consciously) I'm worried about the Zeo score that I'll get the next morning - I hope it's good, but if I look at my watch, and it's 3:30am, and I don't think I've slept, it cannot help but affect the remaining sleep that I get.

No matter how much I tell myself that it doesn't matter, it might.

Follow up to yesterday's post

I should have included this in the rant. From Wikipedia:

1. Strong theist. 100 per cent probability of God. In the words of C.G. Jung: "I do not believe, I know."
2. De facto theist. Very high probability but short of 100 per cent. "I don't know for certain, but I strongly believe in God and live my life on the assumption that he is there."
3. Leaning towards theism. Higher than 50 per cent but not very high. "I am very uncertain, but I am inclined to believe in God."
4. Completely impartial. Exactly 50 per cent. "God's existence and non-existence are exactly equiprobable."
5. Leaning towards atheism. Lower than 50 per cent but not very low. "I do not know whether God exists but I'm inclined to be skeptical."
6. De facto atheist. Very low probability, but short of zero. "I don't know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there."
7. Strong atheist. "I know there is no God, with the same conviction as Jung knows there is one."

I would suggest that most people I know would call themselves a 3 to a 5. I'm a 6.95. Gotta leave a little room in case Jesus does visit the SuperBowl....

If you're easily offended, don't read this...

Last night (Friday, February 3), on Real Time with Bill Maher, Bill had a commentary at the end of the show about atheism.

If any of you know Bill Maher, he's an outspoken atheist who actually did a movie about it in 2008 - Religulous. He's not quite Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens, but he's close.

Anyways, his beef this week was people who call atheism "just another religion". He and I take offence.

"Just another religion" is like that long-standing debating rebuttal "I know you are but what am I?". It involves no thinking at all. Which is the problem.

Atheism (I'd prefer to call it non-theism) isn't equivalent to religion at all.

Religion is a belief in something you can't see, and can't prove. Atheism is believing only what you can prove, and in the absence of such proof, we prefer to say "I don't know". Our opinions are subject to change as new evidence is produced.

As Bill said in his commentary, if Jesus came down from heaven during the SuperBowl and changed everyone's beer into loaves of bread and fish, he'd believe in him. So would I. but the chances of that happening are zero. Not "almost zero". Zero.

Wanna bet?