It’s mind-boggling just how wrong - even deadly-wrong - many of the world’s dietary food pyramid charts are.
The global diabetes and heart disease epidemics may have been fueled in large part based on now decades-old yet still recommended eating errors like: “eat a low-fat diet” and “regular refined carb intake” and “daily sugary desserts are part of a normal diet.”
True, many of these eating errors were based on past limitations in evidenced-based nutrition. But there’s also been a growing problem with industry-funded researchers fudging and sugar-coating the data for profit.
Thankfully, we’ve been witnessing an explosion in new knowledge from ethical food scientists over the last 5–10 years. And that new knowledge is turning so many of our pre-conceived healthy-eating assumptions on their heads!
For example, did you know:
- Eating a low salt diet may be one of the most unhealthy things you can do. This may be true even if you have high blood pressure ( please see videos in comments).
- Many types of fruit juice are just about as harmful as soft drinks are. New research has linked only slight increases in regular fruit juice consumption to a clinically significant increased risk of mortality.
- Many types of fruit now have very unhealthy levels of high sugardue to selective breeding for taste.
- Choose high nutrient fruits like blueberries wisely and eat them in small amounts with lots of high fiber veggies to minimize sugar -bombing your cells and organs.
- Refined grains are incredibly unhealthy due to the insulin spikes they cause and the toxic synergy they have, especially with simple sugars, processed meat products, and unhealthy fats.
- Boxed breakfast cereals labeled “all-natural,” “low fat” and “organic” are often full of processed carbs and sugars - a toxic combination that glucose-bombs your cells.
- Eating a diet low in healthy fats is very, very unhealthy. But at the same time you want to:
- Avoid unhealthy fats. Most refined vegetable and seed oils are super toxic. And that's why most:
- Margarine is toxic - despite all those old TV and print ads touting its so-called heart-healthiness. I recommend replacing margarine with healthy fats from nuts and seeds, extra virgin olive oil (please make sure it’s real and not a toxic substitute), and butter from grass-fed cattle.
- Eggs are super healthy - especially when eaten as part of a zero-”fake-food” diet and, even better, when taken from your own organically fed “backyard chickens.” But it's best to prepare your eggs soft boiled or cook them on low heat, sunny side up to avoid excess oxidation. It’s a good idea to boil meat rather than frying or grilling for this reason as well.
- Eating a mainly whole-food, plant-based diet can help buffer against the oxidation in high temperature cooked meats and eggs while absorbing toxins, including heavy metals and likely micro and nano plastics from a wide variety of industrial-food sources. Speaking of which:
- Fish farmed salmon might be the world's most toxic industrial seafood right now. I suggest wild salmon instead if not a smaller high-healthy-fat fish like sardines (less time spent as a sea-toxin filter compared to larger fish and a healthy balance of omega 3s and 6s and high in vitamin D).
- Yogurt with sweetened fruit can be as bad for you as icecream, again because of the combined natural and added sugars.
- The old advice to eat small frequent meals throughout the day can be very, very unhealthy. What makes “grazing” harmful to so many folks is that it increases the number of times insulin gets secreted in their bodies throughout the day. This is often on top of an already unnaturally high rate of insulin spiking from refined carbs and sugars. Your cells and organs need some glucose-free-time for at least some part of the day to avoid literally rotting over months and years from chronic glucose overload (a major contributor to several chronic diseases).
- Rotting is a very strong word, but I’m quoting the language used by Dr. Jason Fung author of “The Diabetes Code” arguably one of the most important public health books on preventing and reversing diabetes (and many directly related disease processes) ever written.
- Try time-restricted-feeding instead. Eat a good ratio of healthy fats (especially from nuts and seeds), as well as plant and some meat-based proteins, and mainly plant-based, low-sugar carbs (i.e. beans) across 1–3 meals during an 8–12-hour daily “feeding window”. The remaining so-called “fasting period” gives your cells and tissues the glucose-free time they need to self-repair and for normal functioning.
- Replace processed carbs with low glycemic plant-based carb sources like beans. Did I say beans? lol
- Stay away from refined meat products like bacon and hotdogs.
- A strictly meat-based (carnivore) diet is likely very unhealthy over long periods of time.
- Eating only meat robs you of critical antioxidants, phytonutrients, and fiber from plant-based whole foods.
- Having a variety of plant-based fiber is essential for building and maintaining optimal gut-health - a vital component of your overall mind-body health and wellness success.
- Hope that helps!
