Coming at you with a foundationally conversation that is going to take place in a 3 part series! It is time to bring ourselves back to the foundational level of food. It is now time to start talking about how to shift out of the diet culture and the dieting myths that have consumed us over the last 30 years.
How do we do this? We go back to our foundations.
We are going to take a look at our Macros. Protein, Fat, and Carbohydrates.
Yup, three simple elements that are the foundations to our overall health and well being. We are going to look at how much and what kinds of protein, fat, and carbohydrates are necessary.
Let’s step back in time first. Prior to about the 1970s our culture was pretty solid with eating nutrient dense whole foods, in fact even talking about being overweight was not even really talked about prior to the 1960s. Data was not really even collected until then, this was just starting to be discovered around the 1960s. Today, over 70% of the US adults and 30% of the children have become overweight and more than half of them obese.
After the 1970s we moved quickly into a mode of calorie restriction for weight loss, and that quickly moved into low fat and no fat dieting leading us into an epidemic of eating and weight disorders. What is super strange is that around the 1980s when this craze of skinny dieting was happening the portions at fast food restaurants were doubling. This is when calorie overload and overeating really soared to new heights.
Julia Ross writes, in her book The Cravings Cure… that by the end of the 90’s the number of Obese Americans began to exceed the number of overweight Americans. This is when desperate measures for dieting and weight loss became a reality. It became a norm to introduce extended fasts, gastric surgeries, diet pills, restriction and many other desperation based diets became mainstream.
By 2001 we had reached the Obesity Epidemic in the United States for our adults. Declared by the Centers for Disease Control. By 2010, the US Childhood Obesity Epidemic was announced with 15-20% of all children and teens in the US qualifying for this status. The United States now shares with China the highest obesity rate in the world. (The Craving Cure, pg. 77)
America has done an incredible job of spreading this around the world. For the first time in history the number of people who are overfed and overweight in the world outnumber the number of people who are underfed and underweight. This has become a whole new category of malnutrition, called overnutrition defined as “an excess of sugar and fat in the diet” was identified and is now linked not just with weight gain but with a myriad of other, far worse, health problems
When we look at our past and our eating tendancies, there are three trends that will show up. Julia Ross refers to these three trends in her book The Craving Cure, pg. 60
1. Fat Switch: We moved from traditional saturated fats to damaging and inflammatory mystery oils
2. High Carbohydrates entered out world: We began to consume high quantities of the newer high fructose sugars and new wheat flour products
3. Low Protein: We began to drastically decrease our intake of animal proteins, especially red meat.
We are going to take a look at each of these within the context of the macro nutrient, so as we start with Protein.
We should start with some of the past habits that were formed. As people became more obsessed with taking saturated fats out of their diets, this included the concept of taking out animal protein, especially red meat. And, eventually it was not just saturated fats, it was ALL fats! This was also happening in healthy nuts, seeds, and even cheeses. The problem here…most of these healthy fat sources also link into your health protein. Thus, eliminating the fat people also began to eliminate their protein. As this was happening the carbohydrate load was increasing and at times we did not realize that this was actually what was causing the weight gain, and that those excess carbs were actually the thing that was being stored as fat in our bodies.
“As a result, protein has gone from being our primary food source before 1970 to third place. Sugar and starch are the new #1 with fat (mostly omega 6 vegetable oils) being second.” pg. 70, The Craving Cure.
Our bodies need protein for many reasons. It is what helps maintain and grow our bones, tendons, hair, and our brain's neurotransmitters. Now, this is going to be a bit of a controversial topic, but I am going to focus mostly on animal proteins. There are options out there for vegetarian protein sources and it is doable, with a lot of work. So, for the purpose of this article we are going to be speaking about the benefits of animal proteins. The animal proteins I speak about are going to be grass fed, sustainably raised meats and fish. I am not speaking of processed or GMO meats, I want to be clear on that one!
Meat, poultry, fish, some cheeses and even high fat greek yogurts are going to have four times more protein than the equivalent amount of plant proteins. Animal proteins are what we call a complete protein, they hold all twenty of the amino acids required in our bodies to function optimally. Something to ponder, people in the US were taking in animal proteins and even fat for centuries prior to any of the weight issues and even before heart disease was even talked about.
Protein is also incredibly satiating, so one incredible way to kick those cravings is to bring that protein back into your diet. So, think about before you eat the sugar, maybe try to eat some protein and if you are still craving some sugar it can be an option. Most of the time when we re-introduce protein into your diet you will notice that shift.
Lastly, grass fed, sustainably raised meats are one of the only ways for us to get our most depleted micronutrients Vitamin B12, and minerals zinc and iron. Your body will assimilate these most effectively via animal proteins. Zinc and iron are most readily available in only red meat.
What does this look like in terms of how much protein to consume and where do you get it from?
Your plate of food should break down like this:
40% Protein/30% Healthy Carbs/30% Healthy Fats.
Women should be aiming for somewhere around 20-35 grams of protein at each meal depending on the activity level. Men should increase this a bit to 35-45 grams of protein in each meal. This does greatly depend on what the activity level is for each person. This amount is going to provide strength, mental clarity, and reduced cravings.
Examples of Protein Source in serving size + grams:
Meat, Fish, Fowl - 4 oz - 35 grams
Greek Yogurt - 1 cup - 22 grams
Eggs - 3 whole - 21 grams
Pinto Beans - 1 cup - 5-15 grams
Soy (Tofu) - 43 oz - 25 grams
Here is something to remember though, plant based proteins are not going to provide you with all your amino acids and you need to eat more of them to get the full amount of protein in your daily diet. That increases the caloric load and you're not getting enough of the complete amino acid profile in your diet. Combining healthy sustainable raised animal proteins with complex colored vegetables and even small amounts of nuts and seeds is the best way to gain a complete plate full of nutrient dense food!
Favorite COMPLETE Animal Source Proteins:
Of course these are Grass fed, sustainably/regeneratively raised
Beef, Beef liver
Lamb, lamb liver
Pork
Ham (uncured and unsugared)
Bacon (uncured and unsugared)
Eggs
Chicken, Chicken liver, chicken eggs
Turkey
Duck or duck eggs
All fish are rich in protein: Wild salmon and lake Trout are top favs
Lastly, when incorporating proteins back into your diet, it may cause some digestive distress. Or, maybe you are avoiding these proteins because they make your stomach hurt, or you simply just do not digest them well. It is very important to understand your body when it comes to digesting proteins. The stomach must have Hydrochloric Acid in order to break proteins down and your pancreas produces protease which also aids in the breakdown of proteins. I am going to remind you of the above note that animal proteins are high in B vitamins and zinc. Your body needs both of these to actually produce the HCL! Yup, full circle people! It is all coming together!
So, by introducing digestive enzymes that aid in the digestion of proteins, carbs and fats along with some HCL you can notice an incredible improvement in your digestive system and the ability to absorb all those amazing nutrients for your body’s health and well being!
Keep in touch, a few days we are going to dive into the next two Macros! Carbohydrates and Fats! Want to keep learning, let’s get together! Check out the options here! I appreciate you being here and learning about how you can take care of your own health and healing!