In our last +1, we talked about Rule #1 of Nutrition. You remember what it was? Basic idea: It’s not what you start eating that has the most positive impact. It’s what you STOP eating. There aren’t any Fountains of Youth in nature; there ARE poisons. And, you can’t eat enough broccoli to make up for all that pizza. (So, what did you eliminate?) Although I did share his high-level perspective, I didn’t share John Durant’s perspective on what he thinks we should remove as I wanted to make his general advice apply whether you’re Paleo or Vegan or Pegan or whatever. Today we’re going to look at his top recs at what qualifies as “poison” and should, therefore, be removed. *** Note: I share this with a respectful tip ‘o the hat to the Grain Lovers out there. *** John tells us (and, of course, many others who share his perspective echo this): “Top on this list [of poisons] are industrial foods (sugar, vegetable oils) as well as the seed-based crops they’re made out of (cereal grains, legumes). Think of these as slow-acting poisons when consumed in large quantities.” Very few people are going to argue that sugar is good for us. (And certainly not in the quantities in which we consume it today: 150+ lbs per person per year. The fact that we can consume more sugar in one meal than our ancestors would consume in an entire year = not good.) Then we have veggie oils. We’ve talked about it before, but they’re not good for inflammation. (Although, when I was in the hospital waiting room while my brother had his surgery, for some odd reason Dr. Oz dedicated his show to trying to convince us that corn oil is awesome. Hah. We’ll save that for another chat.) Then we have grains and legumes. If you fall into the Paleo-esque camp, you won’t have a tough time agreeing with the statement that we can ”Think of these as slow-acting poisons when consumed in large quantities.” If you enjoy grains and legumes and your digestion and health are perfect then congrats! If you enjoy those foods and your health and digestion can use some Optimizing, you might want to experiment with a little elimination! As per the Hartwigs in It Starts with Food (their Whole360 program was super-helpful years ago after my decade-long low-fat-vegan stint): “The marketing from big cereal companies would have you think that cereal grains are highly nutritious—and that if you don’t eat them, you’ll miss out on all sorts of vitamins, minerals, and fiber that you can get only from grains. That’s simply not true. Grains are not (we repeat, not) nutrient-dense when compared with vegetables and fruit.” Plus: “Another way that a diet high in grains leads to suboptimal nutrition is in terms of opportunity cost: If there are more whole grains on your plate, then there’s probably less of some other food—like vegetables—on your plate. And that lowers the overall micronutrient density in your diet too. In summary: There is not a single health-promoting substance present in grains that you can’t also get from vegetables and fruit.” I laugh as I type this given the near-religious fervor with which people approach their nutrition. Again, YOU’re the Boss. Given your nutritional philosophy, are there any foods that you think you might to eliminate? Have fun. That is all!
