Sifting Through the Myths and Finding Diet Truths

For the past several months, I've been frustrated with the lies and myths of diets out there. I decided to commit much of my spare time to finding a diet that represents a completely healthy, perfect or close to it, but still tasty program.

When I found that there was no such program that really covered all ground, I despaired; each diet I looked at had an emphasis on one aspect, and forgot something that crippled the diet for long-term use.

I found several diet truths, however, from time spent pouring over studies that the USDA, FDA, and other organizations hid very well.

Many of them found that dietary things we've been told our whole lives are completely falsified.

Saturated fat is good for us. Cholesterol is good for us. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats contribute to heart disease and cancer. Breads will not get you lean. Milk does not do a body good. Skim milk is even worse. Three square meals a day is not the best way to eat. Breakfast cereals are not a good way to start the morning. Fruit and vegetable juice is not as beneficial as we'd like to think. Many antioxidants simply do not work in the human body the way they do in a test tube.

As for these dietary truths, they are absolute. They are little-recognized, but they have passed the tests of time, science, and human evolution.

I can practically see the expression on your face as you wrap your mind around the things I just said. I must be crazy.

The facts:

Saturated fat is necessary for the immune system. It contributes greatly to the absorption of protein and essential fatty acids (Omega-3s and Omega-6s) into the body. Saturated fat has inherent antibiotic, antimicrobial, and antifungal properties--this could be why indigenous tropical islanders who eat diets ridden with parasites that would kill most people also consume large quantities of coconut oil--which is 92% saturated fat.

Red meat is not as bad for as as certain individuals would like us to believe. As a matter of fact, present in red meat is a certain enzyme or chemical called the Wulzen Factor that prevents such degenerative joint and bone issues as arthritis. This enzyme cooks out, though, so you won't find this extremely beneficial Wulzen Factor in your average steak. If you want to find it, order it medium-rare or rare. The more bloody the better, I always say. Also, red meat often contains generous amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol.

We should consume cholesterol. It is vital for sexual and neurological development. This is, in part, why it is so prevalent in breastmilk. Nature does not make these kinds of mistakes.

Dietary cholesterol is beneficial, but does not affect serum (blood) cholesterol unless you have a severe metabolic condition.

Cholesterol is also an extremely potent antioxidant within the body. Some schools of thought are that this is the reason that serum cholesterol increases with age--it is the body trying to prevent itself from oxidizing.

Don't eat a lot of grains, breads, pastas, and things like that. They have been linked (and this is actually widely available information, albeit apparently little-known.) to arthritis, diabetes, metabolic syndrome X, and many other degenerative and all-too-common afflictions in today's society.

Instead, get your carbohydrates from fruits. Fruits and mankind, in terms of evolution, have strode hand-and-hand for thousands of years. We're made for each other. Fruits are naturally mankind's energy source of choice. Fruit and meat have been staples of the human diet for even longer than we've been homo sapiens.

Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, especially pineapple (good source of bromelain, which is good for your joints), pomegranate (extremely potent antioxidant properties), olives (good source of antioxidants), berries (good source of energy and contain natural aspirin), and avocado (good source of healthy fats).

As for drink, drink water and green tea. If you drink juice, get it with the pulp--juice is naturally high on the GI (glycemic index) scale, so the pulp will help offer some fiber to help prevent an insulin rush. Generally, though, avoid juice. It is a nice treat, though.

One should eat their meals in one of two ways: 6-8 meals daily, every 2-3 hours, or 1 meal a day.

The 6-8 meals a day school of thought teaches that this method of eating makes the body stop worrying about storing fat, and keeps the metabolism going. One argument against this method is that it does not give the body much time at all between meals to purify itself before eating more food that might contain toxins. 2000 years ago, this method of eating would've worked very, very well, because chemical toxins were practically nonexistent. Today, however, they are rampant.

I recommend eating 1 large meal a day. For this method, one eats little more than 20% of their daily caloric intake via fruits during the day, whenever they feel like it, though preferably well-spaced-out. At the end of the day, the dieter eats one large meal, consisting of the rest of their 80% caloric intake, and plenty of meat, fruit, and vegetables. The thinking behind this is that after a while of 'starvation', the body learns to utilize protein much more efficiently, and the metabolism become super-charged, so that when food finally is taken in, it is utilized, burned, and you are satisfied and happy but not overly fully within about an hour of eating your large meal.

I encourage you to continue seeking dietary truth--to borrow a phrase from the X Files, "The truth is out there."