Eating Strategy (2014)

Eating Strategy

  • Pay attention to how I feel and perform.
  • Cook. Cook efficiently. Aim for 1 hour or less of meal prep time per day (2 hours of batch cooking on Saturday or Sunday). Spend more time cooking and experimenting with new recipes when time allows.
  • Choose a vegetable. Choose a meat. Cook it up.
  • Use eggs, grass-fed butter, broth and seafood to cover micro-nutrient requirements.
  • Liberal use of butter, coconut oil and avocado to ensure adequate fat intake.
  • Monitor starches (sweet potato, squash, white rice) to throttle weight (more starch to gain weight, less starch to lose weight).
  • Avoid grains, legumes, and grain-fed dairy.

Knowns

  • I am what I ate. What I eat today will determine how I feel and perform tomorrow.
  • My diet is what I normally eat. The goal is sustainable eating habits, not a temporary fix.
  • My health is dependent on the quality of my food and the health of my digestive system. A traumatized digestive system will not absorb nutrients and will not provide an effective barrier for the immune system.
  • There are no super foods. A healthy diet requires variety.
  • Food is simple.  Food marketing makes nutrition confusing.  Buzz words (organic, gluten-free, scientifically proven, 100% vegetarian diet) shift focus from the real issue (the issue is food quality) and cause confusion.
  • Vegetarian diets are nutrient deficient.
  • Going 24 hours without eating is uncomfortable, not unhealthy. There are no nutrients that have a daily consumption requirement. Nutrient consumption requirements vary greatly between nutrients and between individuals.
  • There is a difference between the amount of nutrient required to correct a deficiency and the amount of a nutrient required to maintain proper body function.
  • Meat / animal products do not have to be eaten every day.
  • There is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate. Excess carbohydrates compete for nutrient absorption.  Consistent consumption of excess carbohydrates will generate nutrient deficiencies.
  • Excess carbohydrates are stored as fat.
  • There is no such thing as an essential grain. Pizza dough and flour tortillas are tasty, but grains are rough on the digestive system.  Whole grains are REALLY rough on the digestive system.
  • Beans taste good but beans are not a super-food. Legumes are a fancy word for beans. Beans are rough on the digestive system.  Beans generate gas. Gas is amusing to your friends, not to your wife or digestive system.
  • The best restaurants don’t serve hot-pockets. The best restaurants serve real food. Fresh vegetables are tasty. Steak is tasty. Soup is tasty. Omelets are tasty. Seafood is tasty. Eating is fun. I like to eat.

Unknowns

  • Optimum protein intake. Protein is a required macro-nutrient but there is no definitive information on optimum amounts of protein intake. There is compelling evidence that protein fasts are necessary for optimum health.  Protein fasts encourage the recycling of damaged protein within the body. There is still debate on how long a protein fast should last.
  • Optimum carbohydrate intake for performance athletics. There is still considerable debate on the timing of carbohydrate consumption and the amount of carbohydrate consumption for optimum performance.
  • An optimum micro-nutrient consumption strategy.  Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) started during World War II as a food rationing tool.  Nutrition studies are notoriously complicated and notoriously inaccurate. The challenge is isolating the effects of single micro-nutrients for a prolonged period of time under changing demands.
  • A thorough understanding of the link between the presence of a nutrient in a particular food and the benefits of consuming the food. Liver is a good example. The liver contains a high concentration of nutrients, but the liver is also a filter and the effects of regular liver consumption over a long period of time is unknown.

Challenges

  • Micro-nutrient availability.  Filtered water = depleted nutrients. Depleted soil = depleted nutrients (Micro-nutrients in vegetables come from the soil).
  • Food quality. Healthy meat and healthy animal products (eggs, cheese, butter, etc.) require healthy animals. Healthy animals require a healthy natural diet and healthy surroundings. Americans have voted with their wallets for fast and cheap, with devastating impact to the quality of animal products in the food system. The situation is slowly improving with increased demand for higher quality food.
  • Real food availability.  Corn, wheat and soy are cheap and plentiful. Real food has a shelf life and is harder to find. Eating high quality food on a budget requires shopping, cooking and planning ahead.