What is the Ideal Diet?

[atm]

I know to steer clear of lactose and gluten -- cow and soy milk, wheat, cheese, barley and rye due to genetic intolerance.

I'm trying to cut out beer, sugars, MSG [modified starch] and Jacob's Crackers .

Sooo...

...what can I eat?

I'm hungry!

I hear blood type is important in selecting the right diet too: I'm 'O+'.

Do I just eat meat, meat, meat, fruit, fruit, fruit and veg, veg, veg?

It's extremely hard to avoid lactose and gluten-laden foods.

Help! I'm getting FAT.

NOOOOOOOOOO!

atm

[Xiang]

This might be wrong but I think it's best to just eat what you like. This way you won't stress over what's healthy and spending lot of cash on health foods. Why do you see plenty of people at normal weights eating grains and dairy?

[atm]

Dear Xiang

wrong chum !

Listen to this:

http://www.kathymcmahon.utvinternet.com/mrn/audio/InsideTrackNews050324a.mp3

Kathy should be adding to this discussion soon (have PM'd her good self to help out).

Regards

atm

[kathy]

From what I know regarding some people's intolerances, it is actually the Casein in dairy and the gluten is grains that are the problem for many.

Interesting link in the WIKI article:

The China Project

There is cheese here in Ireland called "Dubliner" and it states that it is ok for people with Celiac disease and other casein intolerant people to eat. It is a hard white cheddar.

This post might be all over the place which is why I am interested in the Gotu Kola you mentioned in another post ATM.

According to this Wikipedia article:

[kathy]

Just to add:

ATM, this has taken me almost two hours to formulate - 1 smoke left, have not moved from this seat to make a coffee, my butt is flattened and I'm starving

[Fintan]

[heiho1]

Reading the thread I can't help but be reminded of GOOD OMENS by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. In GOOD OMENS, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse [the one playing famine], starts a "low fat" diet company which results in a worldwide obesity pandemic. Many of my family members drink "diet" soda and are completely overweight... I know from reading REVERSE AGING [alkalife.com] that a great deal of fats are actually used to store toxins and undigestibles so fats are protective of the body and obesity may be a sign of the body protecting itself from a truly poisonous diet.

[kathy]

"Diet" labelled products contain artifical sweetners such as Aspartame.

I see obese people buying Diet drinks all the time and wonder do they ever stop to think how come they are not losing weight. On one occasion I saw a lady pack four 2 ltr bottles of "diet coke" into the trunk of her car and another into the passenger seat to drink on the way home. This lady was obese.

Another problem is that people think because they have some "low fat" this and "diet" that in their diet that they can eat and drink loads of the crap.

[Damian Flynn]

I lived in Korea for a while. They have really great, fresh natural food there. I never realised how bad the quality of food is here in Australia until I stayed in Korea. Koreans still follow their traditional eating habbits despite their economic development. I'm well aware that the CIA is trying to change this by promoting the old "good and evil cholesterol" psyop.
Anglo american diets have been severely perverted by the government for generations. I'd suggest doing some study on traditional food, and preparation methods. One website which I think has some useful info. is

www.westonaprice.org and of course www.mylonglife.com

[Nat]

omg, i thought i was the only one who noticed that 'diet' food and drink paradox - i've never given a hoot about 'low fat', in fact i've always actively avoided those aspartame laden and 'slimming' foods, and i'm five foot ten and 68 kilos - hardly needing a forklift to get out of bed

i'm utterly convinced - always have been - that the more pure the food, the better it is from all points of view (especially 'diet', and broader health concerns) ...i just had major pieces of info missing until i heard that Hidden causes of Western Diseases, and The New Plague part one 56k / dsl and part two 56k / dsl

for years, it's looked as though the unavoidable conclusion to draw is that food manufacturers are pretty twisted in their thinking, and the only reaction to that is to switch off from their incessant lies...and start buying stuff that's just as it was dug out of the ground, or cut from the plant, or whatever - it don't need, and really cannot be improved

if you're able to view these from your location, i strongly recommend to you all the series on bbc2 - Ray Mears's Wild Food - a decent food reality check...i'll keep an eye out for links to online viewing/downloading, although at present i'm unaware of such links

wednesdays 8pm bbc2 (ep2 on 10th jan) five part series, five hours total

[atm]

I've given up beer (replaced by Bombay Sahppire gin ), white (shite) bread and ALL forms of milk (though I can't resist a pair of saggy tits ).

I have bacon, pork sausages and a fried egg for breakfast, black tea with powdered neem (yuk!).

High protein, low fat = good (for me anyway): The Christmas bulge has almost vanished in less than a fortnight

I'm also taking organic Gota kola and turmeric daily -- the results of all this have astonished me.

Okay, okay, I'm still partial to the odd burger or pizza but I exercise that off anyway (or I get the shits which is a great way to lose weight, trust me).

atm

[kathy]

I spent time in southern Italy, in a traditional family setting. Everything they ate, they grew themselves, using no pesticides. From olive oil to the veg, food was simple and delicious. Yes they consume a lot of pasta but I met very few fat people there.

Their way of eating, veg and carbs before the meat, and a meal is not just something to eat to fill you up, it is something you do, slowly and with a sense of fun. Afterwards, everyone takes time out to rest.

The celler of the home I visited was full with vats of olive oil and wine, all homemade and stored for winter. Cheese was dirt cheap and eaten a lot. There is someting different about the cheese there, it does not go mouldy as quick as store bought cheese here.

Here we tend to stuff everything on te one plate and take no notice of what digests better with what. I am guilty of that most of the time, maybe it goes back to the "famine"

[truthseeker]

Kathy's time and effort on this thread is very helpful, ATM. Thanks for calling her out.

It looks from your recent posts that the 'ideal' diet is not really your main interest. It IS, however, a topic worthy of your attention if robust and vital health is of as much interest as maintaining appropriate weight.

As you've been told since you were a tyke, you are what you eat. Quite literally. Your body has ONLY that which you put in it with which to fashion itself. And if a balance of energy is what you want in your body then food that produces balance is what you want to consume.

The concept of yin and yang is helpful in understanding your body's needs and cravings. If one has a diet heavy in yang-energy foods, the body's natural response is to crave yin. (A big, well-salted piece of char-broiled steak, as yang a food as you might consume, will produce a craving for sweets or alcohol--the opposite extreme.) Heavy consumption of foods at the energy extremes will, over time, tax your body's systems and create dis-ease.

Learning to select and prepare meals at the center will enable you to express more robust health.

Given that we all are responsible for the health we enjoy, the study of food preparation and eating is one that we might all profit from undertaking. For those interested in producing therapeutic results with their diet and eating choices, I recommend a review of anything written by Michio or Aveline Kushi. For those interested only in a few basic rules to protect their health, I'd post the following on the fridge:

1. THROW OUT YOUR MICROWAVE (simply don't eat anything that's been in one!)

2. Eat a multitude of whole grains (short-grain brown rice at least 5x/wk)

3. Eat locally-grown, organic produce whenever possible (you can't have too much of this)

4. Eat some fish if you prefer (white flesh is best)

5. Reduce your intake of animal products (best to eliminate dairy)

6. Drink pure water, green tea, and vegetable juices

7. Drink locally brewed beer, good wine, and spirits in moderation

8. Use small amounts of friendly oils: sesame, olive, corn

9. Avoid commercially-prepared foods

To maximize your body's use of the foods you consume:

1. Maintain a regular eating and living schedule.

2. Sit down to eat (always!) and eat without doing other activities.

3. Chew your food very thoroughly.

4. Take at least 20 minutes at every meal.

5. Don't eat within 3 hours of retiring for the night.

Those basic guidelines will go far in producing the conditions your body requires to maintain vital health and energy.

[kathy]

Thank you Truthseeker, I am the Genie in ATM's PM bottle

[Rumpl4skn]

I'm constantly on some sort of intake consciousness (I don't even call them "diets" anymore). I'm 5' 10", and the most I've ever weighed was 204, and when I saw that scale tip 200 a few years ago, it was culture shock. Since then I've maintained about 180, but my goal this year is to get down to 165, my high school weight (about 75 Kg, I'm told).

Usually I'm trying to lose a few pounds, but mostly since the 90's I've been avoiding saturated fat and extra sugar. I don't have any dietary intolerances, so I don't have to avoid certain foods for health reasons, and I realize it's probably different for everyone, but with me - but as far as losing weight, it seems to simply come down to the volume of food I eat.

Eating smaller portions (which goes right along with chewing food longer) and not eating after 8pm - those seems to work for me. The chewing thing is a constant struggle, as I've been a musician most of my life, and on the road you often don't get more than 5 minutes to wolf down lunch. Habits are hard to break, and habits are the key. When I started changing my habits - such as eating more slowly, and not bringing food to the computer (Combining eating with some other enjoyable activity is the best way to wind up a large person) I started to slim down.

I'm a very infrequent drinker, but when I do, it's usually this pre-mixed Cosmo stuff I get at the liquor store. $12 a bottle, about 20 cosmos per bottle, and that's about 1/8 the cost of a cosmo in a bar. White wine (Pinot Grigio) is another fave if I'm out at dinner.

For snacking, a handful of baby carrots works. In the states, the lower calorie/high fat food is the cheapest, which I presume is to make sure the poorer classes stay fat (the Republicans love to point that out, as if obesity is disproof of a lower standard of living). But my favorite food is lard-cooked potato chips, and I'm sworn off those now for several years.

But as far as food - for me it's about changing habits, not diets.