Raw Food Pyramid?

[Zac]

I'm not a vegan or a vegetarian and I still do some meat and dairy. I've been thinking more about my diet though and I think if I focused mainly on this chart adding a little meat and dairy I'd be doing pretty well. What do you guys think?

[Jon]

Thats a really low protein diet. Are you lifting weights? If so this diet is totally not a good idea.

[Zac]

I am not lifting weights, I plan to, but I mentioned in the OT that I would be adding some meat and dairy to the mix.

[Jon]

If you are going to lift, then you should be adding a LOT of meat, dairy, or eggs to that mix.

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Oh, also, the herbs microgreens and wheatgrass can all go out the window. I have no idea why they list sea weed and yeast as medicinal foods.

[Zac]

Why can't I just drink a shake or something?

I've never cared about getting super huge. I'm mostly concerned with overall health not size or strength. I definitely want to hear more about the benefits of either or.

[Jon]

Yeah you can do a whey protein shake, that's still dairy, basically. You also might start to get sick of them.

Sorry, benefits of either or what?

[Zac]

I'm just confused as to what you are saying I guess. I understand that eating a ton of protein when you are lifting helps you get bigger but is there like any other health benifits besides that?

If I'm looking at my overall health does it make more sense to add in a ton of meat/dairy/ect or not is my question. Is it OK for me to at least try to keep that stuff down?

[Jon]

Ah got it.

Regarding diet - there's a huge debate about the optimum ratio of protein/carbs/fat. For fat and protein = good, carbs=bad see:

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-...1400040787

For carbs = good, fat & protein bad, see:

http://www.amazon.com/The-China-Study-Co...187&sr=1-1

I tend to by the high protein and high fat side of things, but the truth is that it's still debated.

[Drewid]

I've dropped around 60 pounds in the last eight months.
Went from a size 40 to a 34, and I now weigh less than I did in Junior High.

First was portion control.
Second was low carb.
Lastly was straight up calorie counting.

NOTHING works like calorie counting. Eat whatever you want, but if you keep track of calories you start to figure out everything else. Exercise becomes an excuse to eat pizza! It's amazing.

If you have an iPhone it's truly easy to make it work, and after a while you start to internalize the counting.

As for the greens, I do blended green smoothies every day. Blending releases more nutrients as you're smashing open more of the cell walls in the greens, and you're getting all the fiber, which juicing doesn't give. Plus I don't have salad guilt. Turns out salad dressing is loaded with calories.

Again, I don't have a dog in the debate. You can eat protein or what all, but calorie restriction will strip the weight off of you, if that's what you want.

[Zac]

I just want to have a healthy diet. I could probably lose 10 pounds but I'm sure with some regular exercise and a moderately healthy diet I'll do just fine.

I care most about health, I'm sure my body will look fine no matter what if I focus on that.

[Jani]

Why dont you just follow the paleo diet??

[Mind]

Protein intake is important besides achieving muscular growth!

Amino acids (the building parts of proteins) are needed for plenty of things, such as skeletal health, the productions of neurotransmitters (such as dopamine & serotonine) and sports recovery.
The foods that contain them (meat, fish, milk, eggs...) contain a vast amount of helpful and essential nutrients for your body (calcium, iron, zinc ... as well as plenty of micronutrients we aren't even aware of yet!).

Protein is also vastly superior to carbohydrates and fatty acids with regards to satiety/kcal.
Even if you don't care about health, but you'd just like to lose some of that fat (without losing muscle mass and strength) a protein intake of at least 2-3 g/kg / 1-1.5 g/lbm bodyweight will greatly (!) benefit you.

[Traindom]

Is there any particular reason you're trying to reduce your consumption of meat or dairy? How do you feel about fish?

I'd say another health benefit of meat/dairy is that you'd be doing your insulin a favor. Even if you manage to meet your daily caloric requirements mostly through fruits/vegetables, you still run a risk of spiking your insulin on a constant basis if you consume more than 160 grams of carbohydrates. It really depends on how you'd be eating.

If it helps clarify where I'm coming from, I follow this scheme: http://blog.stack.com/2012/01/13/using-n...-lose-fat/

It's basically high protein, high carbs, and low fat on training days and high protein, low carbs, and high fats on rest days. This is what I follow in case you're interested behind my reasoning. I'm not recommending it, but it's there if you want to know.

Could you take us through a hypothetical day of your diet so we can assess it? We could better gauge the quantities of macronutrients this way.

[Zac]

I'd really like to eventually be like 90% vegetarian I love meat. I've been having some personal dismay at killing animals for food though and have been deciding how to handle it. I didn't eat any meat for a month but I wasn't completely satisfied with that. Just seeing if I can cut down on it.

Everyone keeps talking about muscular growth. I'm confused. Does having the maximum muscular growth have a direct correlation with how health you are?

People keep saying stay away from grains. I've been trying to eat more things like quinoa, beans, nuts, ect in my diet. Should I be eating less quinoa?

[FirstAidKit]

Have you thought about cutting down the meat you eat to really ethically sourced stuff? More expensive, obviously, but also more delicious.

To be honest, with all the diet stuff - unless you are seriously trying to lose weight, or go paleo, or bulk up, I think just cutting out as much processed stuff as you can will probably be okay. You can pick examples of several cultures with quite different diets that all do well healthwise. But yeah - eat real food, not too much of it, mostly plants. Calorie count if you want to shift pounds.

I don't have any credentials or anything - I'm just speaking as someone who used to have a tendency for creeping weight gain and it's been several years that I can quite comfortably maintain a level I like (and still eat things that are delicious). I'm not super skinny or toned though so if that's what you are after the other advice on the thread may be better.

[Zac]

That's kind of what I've been doing. Less processed stuff, more veggies, more nuts, more skim milk, less red meat (still a huge vice though), more chicken when I do eat meat, ect.

My only real main goal is to eat healthy. I'll probably set a goal of losing 10-15 pounds soon but I'm pretty sure I've lost like 5 the last few months just cleaning up what I eat without counting anything.

[Traindom]

I understand now. There are still a lot of alternatives as far as protein sources go. You can get enough from minimal amounts of meat and dairy if you include a lot of protein powder. Nuts help too. A lot of people have been able to get enough protein as vegetarians, so I think you'll be fine. One gram per pound of bodyweight is the standard, so as long as you meet this standard, you'll be fine.

Muscular growth does not necessarily have a direct correlation with health. Of course, in the absence of health, muscular growth is hindered, but you can be healthy without touching a single weight. You wouldn't have as much muscle mass as you could have, but you'll be healthy.

I think the reason people are talking about muscular growth is because you said you were planning to lift. If you're lifting for strength, aesthetics, etc., you should consume enough protein to promote muscular growth. If you don't, you'll be depriving your muscles of protein needed for repairs. You're going to need more protein than the average person given that you'll be introducing lifting into your life.

You can still eat grains, in moderation. You don't have to stay away from grains. You might have to watch your carbohydrates if you're worried about spiking insulin resistance up, though. If you keep carbohydrates to around 150 or grams daily, you can still enjoy loads of fruit, vegetables, and grains.

I only give you that carbohydrate standard because you seem interested in health more than anything. I'd think insulin would be included in that.

[Zac]

Thank you.

I certainly get that this is true

Quote:I think the reason people are talking about muscular growth is because you said you were planning to lift. If you're lifting for strength, aesthetics, etc., you should consume enough protein to promote muscular growth. If you don't, you'll be depriving your muscles of protein needed for repairs. You're going to need more protein than the average person given that you'll be introducing lifting into your life.

and I can see why people have been talking mostly about muscle growth. I'll be lifting but becoming huge isn't exactly my goal. Certainly though I should do my best to give my muscles enough protein to grow.

I pretty much know nothing about eating other than a few rules like the grams of protein/body weight rule if you are lifting and just not to eat a lot of sodium rich, processed, or fatty foods. Other than that I just eat stuff I think is healthy.

Really not sure how much meat I want to cut out. I love eating meat, sometimes it just feels so dirty to do it though.

[Traindom]

Awesome. And as for the meat, you'll find your own way. Even though I'm well-versed in fasting, standards, and rules, only I could get a real feel for the rhythm of my diet. I know what and how I can eat. I've learnt to get a feel for what I eat in terms of calories as well. I know massive amounts of almonds are killer for me. I know drinking two liters of milk will make me immediately vomit. I've applied what I know in a way that's compatible for me.

I think you know enough fundamentally to really get a feel for your diet. Time and consistency are what you need now to sort out the kinks in your diet. Experiment and see what works best for you.

If it's any consolation, I've also had some grief over the food industry as well. It's some pretty nasty stuff what they do. Although I dislike the practices, I still eat meat. I feel that whether or not I eat meat, the food industry will not be hindered in the slightest. But it seems to have struck you even harder. I hope you find clarity in your personal dismay, whatever that may be.

[castillonewsom]

All herbs food and sea food both are good for health. I prefer to eat only organic food because modern food contain lot of chemical which is not good for our health system. Chemical food can break our digesting system.