Coach Zoe’s Response to FB post on her page 12.2
I have now been vegetarian 3 times in my lifetime. I hold essentially a minor in nutrition. A lot has changed. I don’t necessarily follow any specific guidelines set up by the ADA, or the RDA, shook my head, because of research funding.
I eat a lot of eggs. Hella eggs. I am currently running an experiment on decreasing the amount of eggs, without compromising my blood sugar levels, which is always a huge factor for me when eliminating animal products from my diet. I am not a vegan. And being vegan for me would be very difficult. Not that I haven’t tried it. Or wouldn’t want to become one. There is strong evidence that having, what I call dense protein in the morning, stabilizes blood sugar levels all day long. This concept is important with people with diabetes. And perhaps, people like me.
Who has seen my with low blood sugar?! And perhaps I am limited by the auto-immune disease, Celiac’s. The Celiac’s makes it more difficult on a vegan diet, because it prevents me from eating Oats, and a few other very healthful grains that are necessary in the Vegan diet. I am not able to function without dense protein in the morning.
I have not only researched a lot of different types of eating plans, I have tested them, or attempted to test them.1st off Keto. I just literally shook my head again. Unless, you are being advised by a medical professional to follow this type of eating plan, I do not recommend it at all. The flaws, people don’t generally eat enough plants on this plan, fiber, as Susan suggested. It is almost impossible to get 70% of your calories from fat. Keto is not like Paleo, or Vegetarian, or Vegan, where you can slip. You cannot on Keto, not one single time. And colon cancer is the only preventable cancer and that requires eating a lot of plants. I have heard that you can be keto on plants only. I want to know more. At 70% of calories needing to come from fat, I would find this incredibly challenging.
Paleo. Of all the eating plans, this has been my primary focus since the mid 2000s. Focus on Plants, healthy types of lean protein, healthy fats, and avoidance of high carbohydrate, low nutrient foods.
I have not been able to eat pork, or beef for almost 2 years. And finding my issue put me on this path of not eating meat again. I still was eating 4 Organic Free Range Eggs (organic free range, are higher in Omega 3’s, and are more nutrient dense than other eggs. The more yellow the yolk, and stiff the white, the healthier the egg) Eating foods that are Free Range and Organic, will be higher in Omega 3’s, which helps balance cholesterol, they are also more lean, and they will be free of antibiotics, and glyphosphate(round up from what is labeled GMO) in the tissue. And a few servings of cheese per week.
My hair was falling out in unhealthy amounts. My weight was not changing, my energy levels seemed to be about the same, my hair was falling out. This is not healthy, it is an indicator of an underline health issue. Once my gut seemed to normalize, without any meat, I began an experiment with adding in animal protein again, chicken, turkey, lamb. The darker the meat, the more I have an issue with the protein. I also noticed my hair was not falling out. Less animal protein, more hair loss, minimizing, animal protein, in the form of meat, less hair loss.
We are in a food revolution, if you are willing to put your best health forward, and have your grocery bill double. I have found some great grain free, paleo granolas, and I have found some almond yogurts that work. Non-dairy milk should have 2 to 4 ingredients max, and you guessed it, cost 3 times the other crap jammed full of chemicals, and binders.
So I have chosen to eat enough animal protein, in the form of meat, so my hair doesn’t fall out. This is about 2 nights per week, only feeding the two of us, sometimes, it stretches out, to 3 or 4 nights, and well, my intestines aren’t happy.
I’m currently in another sugar detox, and it sucks. Damn TDay Pie. You do have to live a little bit, because that is what makes us successful, in any eating plan. Except Keto. I’ve been using some easy boxes of paleo type treats. Tim and I call them fake brownies, fake cookies. They do the trick when I want treats.
I do believe genetics play a role in how we eat. If you think about, Eat Right for your Blood Type, and what part of the world our ancestors are from, changes the types of food we should be eating. I’ve come to the conclusion, that many of us, probably are not adapted to eat a lot of coconut, for example. Which is a great fat, and does not oxygenate while cooking as easily as Olive Oil. In moderation.
I am from Ireland, and England, I do very well eating potato. I’ve had extensive blood work done to see what foods cause a 1, 2, or 3 inflammatory response, I avoid russets, and I do believe, that I do best with red, and I really like golds!! Japanese sweet potatoes on occasion. I don’t do well, with Yams, or sweet potatoes from a CHO standpoint.
I do believe, and know, the science is solid, without rebut, That dairy, animal protein, sugar, and refined carbohydrates cause inflammation in the body, and inflammation is linked to heart disease, and cancer. The science is solid, and has been since the 90’s that I don’t want to say veganism, however, Dean Ornish, and Pritikin, we are able to reverse heart disease, and prevent disease. However, these examples include the 10% rule. In this particular case 10% of your diet, or calories, can come from saturated fat. The research is irrefutable. There are some important things to consider on the Vegan diet, in the 90s, I was taught, that you are missing 1 or 2 of the essential amino acids eating a true vegan diet, and also, that B6, and especially B12, will need to be supplemented to be truly successful. Beans and Rice make a complete protein, Corn, and lime, as of now, I forget the 3rd one.
I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian 90% of the time. With very little lacto. I eat enough meat so my hair doesn’t fall out, and I am able to truly perform at my best. And I feel that the most important element is Nutrition Periodization, for the athlete, and that perfectly times carbohydrates, is the way to address Nutrition, and that if you’re not an athlete, you don’t really need any refined CHOs, and very little CHOs at all.
In my personal life, and I wish I could get all of my athletes following this type of plan, although the buy in has been very difficult, and that is for a lot of forms of exercise we don’t need to be fueled by CHO’s that are non fruit, vegetable, and nut related.
I got to eat a lot of CHO’s last year, as my program was shorter duration, higher intensity, and I needed to be fueled by grains, more. Now I am transitioning back into a higher volume, lower intensity year, so I am transitioning into utilizing more fat as an energy source. It is important to recognize, that in the absence CHO, the body will catabolize your muscle, and your bones, to feed the brain. Bob Seebohar with eNRG performance developed Metabolic Efficiency Training, you are able to do this with, or without animal protein.
I was out for 4.5 hours the other day, I ate 4 eggs for breakfast, and my paleo granola with almond milk, berries, a trace of honey. And during that 4.5 hours simply ate half a cup of mixed nuts, a banana, and a 250 kcal Spring Energy with caffeine. I lost 0 weight didn’t bonk, and was fine until dinner.
We make a lot of stink of what to eat. If we want to be healthy, and prevent disease eat more fruits, and vegetables!! Avoid chemicals! The only eating plan that matters, is the one you can follow, and be as healthy as possible for you. I cannot think of one eating plan that is 100% wrong. If we take bits, and pieces out of each and every plan, we would then, have the perfect plan. Are you getting your 9 servings of plants per day(fruits/veggies)? Are you getting enough protein, in the form of animals, or plants, without being in excess? Chances are if you’re eating more vegetables, and nuts, you are, with very minimal animal protein, if any at all.
Yes, I have seen vegan athleticism take off. Yes, you can recover faster, because you naturally don’t have as much inflammation in the body(exercise causes inflammation) What I have seen more often, in more recent times, are people dropping weight, to an extreme level, losing muscle mass, and prone to almost not recoverable injuries. Sometimes, if you’re not careful, and smart, about your food choices, you are not able to eat enough calories to sustain your activity level. If you are able to maintain a healthy weight, and more importantly a healthy body fat, without comprising your recovery, than why not?!? And yes, you can!! With due diligence!!
If you haven’t tried giving up animal protein, then yes!! You should try it, and feel the difference!! You will feel amazing!! And remember, there’s even Vegan Crack out there, so don’t buy it, just because the title, make sure you read the label!!
And yes, I do miss my rib-eye, and my bacon.