Saturated Fat, Tempest in a teapot.

                               Fat     SFA
4oz 85/15 ground beef broiled  11.9   4.5
2 oz scrapple                   8     2
eggs whole x2                  10.6   3.2
2 chicken thighs skin on       19.2   5.4
olive oil 2.5 tbsp             33.75  4.75
almonds 1 oz                   14.4   1.1
Plain Whole Yogurt 1cup         7     5
Totals                        104.85 25.95

According to conventional wisdom, and popular advice, we should get no more than 10% of our calories from saturated fat, based on our projected caloric needs. My projected caloric requirements are about 2400 Cal. per day which gives me a daily allotment of 26 grams of saturated fat, out of a total of 106 grams total fat based on the recommendations of Willet and Skerrit (EAT, DRINK, AND BE HEALTHY). Now 26 grams of saturated fat doesn't seem like much, but when you look at what I ate above, 26 grams of Saturated fat goes quite a ways. The above values come from calorieking.com

Now to be honest I didn't measure and weigh my fruits, vegetables, or beans, I'm just not that concerned about counting calories right now. But for completeness I also ate cantaloupe, grapes, a nectarine, a peach, blueberries, chic peas, a big salad, broccoli, spinach, and a couple of scoops of whey protein powder.

Lets call the case against saturated fat what it really is, a thinly veiled political war on eating meat.

South Beach vs Atkins

No, this is not going to be one those my diet is better than your diet posts, accompanied by flaming comments from the true believers of either plan. Sorry to disappoint. Rather this is about why a person would choose one plan over another, and be successful. Each plan has its success who are die hard adherents and turn it from a way of eating into a religion. Each plan has had converts from the other plan, and each plan has its failures. In a short one word answer, its about compliance. Which eating plan are you most likely too stick to over a long period of time, and why?

I am going to admit up front that my own personal preference is for the South Beach plan. This is based on my attempts at very low carb dieting, which I hated. With in a couple of days of starting phase one of SB, I always start to feel "better". Even after several days of induction, I can't shake the feeling of death warmed over. I never seem to get to that happy ketosis place. Even accounting for the people like me who don't do well with induction, there seem to be other components which make one successful on one plan versus the other.

While in each eating plan, both red meat and seafood are allowed, even encouraged, the Atkins plan seems to draw the meat eaters, while the seafood folks gravitate to SB. I am sure there are exceptions to this observation, but based on my observations both on and off line this seems to be a general distinction between the groups. Using myself as an example, if I had to eat Fish or beef every day for a month for dinner, I would choose the fish. I like beef, but if I eat it once a week that's enough. I cannot, however, say I have met (in real or cyber space) a practitioner of Atkins who would make the same choice, or that has the same preferences. Maybe they exist, but I haven't met one.

A second area where preferences seem to differ is the choice between olive oil and butter. I'll admit that I think real butter from grass fed cows has a place in every kitchen. I also think that the fear of saturated fat is unwarranted. Most SBer's I know use a bit of real butter now and again. Many Atkinser's use olive oil as well. Perhaps because the SB book encourages olive oil, and the Atkins book doesn't discourage butter that this is a side effect of the plan, but I also think that personal preference plays into this as well. Given the amount of veggies both plans encourage you to eat, a preference for olive oil or butter may be a factor in deciding which plan is best for you. While its true that you can use olive oil on Atkins and one the butter type spreads on SB, if you start looking at the recipes and menus associated with the plans, the trend becomes clear.

There are certainly other points of distinction between the diets, that may be make or break issues for some. Some will prefer to count carbs, while other will prefer to follow the rules and food lists of SB. Some people won't like either diet. With all of the noise lately about low carb vs low fat vs the Mediterranean diet, I find that the South Beach plan provides a livable mix of the best parts of a reduced carb and Mediterranean type diet. Success on any plan is about the commitment to change the way you eat permanently, whether you ultimately end up choosing South Beach, Atkins, or even the Ornish plan,

The Most Sugar-Packed Foods in America

From the "Eat This Not that" blog by David Zinczenko from Mens Health.

Most sugar packed Foods

Mistakes were made, Including by Me.

As part of a routine physical back in February my Dr ordered various lab tests. This particular time he ordered a few extra due to my insistence that I was eating a reasonable diet and exercising regularly. Despite my efforts and protestations, I somehow seemed to avoid losing weight. Even though by his own admission My body fat levels were not morbid, they were higher than he considered healthy, and I steadfastly maintained a 39 inch waist. So after some chatter of him trying to convince me that he was right and I was just being difficult, he agreed to test "everything". The first round of test came back and he said that some things were not normal and we should do the tests again. Given my history of issues with cholesterol and glucose metabolism, a second round of labs was not anything that raised a red flag. Second set of labs come back and Dr calls and said I should see an endocrinologist, a number of my hormone levels were not normal. So, I made an appointment, and saw the endocrinologist. More lab tests. Then an MRI, an appt with an optometrist, then a neurosurgeon. I felt like I was on the health care merry-go-round as nobody would really tell me what is wrong with me other than some abnormal lab work, but they all got paid, both by me and my insurance. After all of these visits I end up back at the endocrinologists office. The bottom line is that at some point my pituitary gland stopped behaving normally, and no one really knows why. He gave me a couple of prescriptions, a sheet for some more lab work and sent me on my way.

One of my biggest frustrations during that period was trying to get meaningful answers from doctors who barely spoke English. Not to mention the cultural issues some of these guys have when some one questions their decisions. I'm looking to get a second opinion, but the health insurance I have requires me to go through their process. I've come to the conclusion that managed care equals managed symptoms, not a cure. If nothing else, maybe this'll serve as an example to others. If you aren't getting results, and you are really trying, and following your chosen plan, go see your doctor. Convince him/her to test "everything". Leave no metabolic or hormonal test undone.

On the one hand the meds make me feel better then I have felt in quite some time. Many of the minor ailments I had attributed to aging and normal wear and tear are going away. I no longer have any issues with my cholesterol or glucose metabolism. I still haven't lost any weight, not that I've been trying. In fact my appetite has increased rather markedly. My exercise as of late has consisted of walking, and for the first time in quite a while I have something that resembles aerobic endurance. I'm not yet sure where all this is headed, but it promises to be an interesting ride.

The Internet is Not Real Life.

Heresy, I know. But Cyberspace is not a real place and the inhabitants, are disconnected egos floating in electronic mist. To be honest, everything you read on the Internet should be taken with a grain of salt, a very large grain of salt. Much like a couple of generations ago, people had to learn the difference between TV and reality, today people need to learn that the internet is also not reality. I have faith that many folks are accurately representing themselves, their beliefs, and their experiences. Their will always be, however, a certain percentage of folks who, mis-represent who they are and what they do. Some do it out of malice, others just need or want attention or to feel important. Some times they are easy to spot. Often they are quickly labled as trolls. Other times the deception is incredibly subtle and woven with enough truth that it becomes hard to tell. The great thing about the Internet is that it gives everybody a platform to speak with little fear of reprisal. The bad thing about the Internet is that it gives everybody a platform to speak with little fear of reprisal. Surf the web aimlessly, but don't internalize too much from any one place, and don't get sucked in to the dark places where bitterness and hate fester. Keep your contacts in Real life. One night a week out with friends will do much for your psychological well being. Online chat rooms and bulletin boards are a poor substitute for in person contact with other people. This is not to say that internet Bulletin Boards, or Chat Rooms can't be helpful, supportive, informative, or part of your social world. Its just that they shouldn't be your only social world. So, pick up the phone. Call some one. Turn off the computer. Go mingle with real people, in real time, in real life.

Beans and Biscuits

My great-grand parents, Henry and Mena Bennett, whom I called Poppy and Mom-mom, observed most of the twentieth century. They survived two world wars, the great depression, Korea, Vietnam, Water-Gate and disco. Even in my earliest recollections of them, they were already old. Intellectually, I know they were once young, I just never knew them that way. Most of my memories of them revolve around Fishing, working in the garden, and making home made ice cream. I did as a matter of course stay with them, particularly in the summer when I was out of school. The garden had all sorts of vegetables, and a bean patch that would have made Thoreau proud. They were not fat, and actually would probably be considered skinny by todays standards. I can still recall what they ate for breakfast every day, Corn flakes with milk and sugar, biscuits with butter and jam, coffee with cream and sugar. Every day. Being a woman of her generation, my great-grand mother used real butter and cream, real sugar, lard and gold medal flour to make her biscuits, and made her own jam. Lunch, especially this time of year as berries and other fruits become available locally, was often a piece of freshly baked pie or short-cake. I can still picture in my mind, Mom-mom standing at the sink in a plain house dress capping and slicing strawberries with the smell of short bread in the oven. How eagerly I waited for the cast iron skillet containing the short bread to be pulled from the oven. And the still warm biscuit to be topped with a generous scoop of sweetened strawberries and topped with clotted cream. Few things can match such childhood memories. The dinner I remember most often was biscuits and beans. Might great grand father loved lima beans. From a big pot with a big piece of fat pork came the beans served in blue agate bowls. My great grand mothers biscuits ( My grand mother has commented that my great-grand mother made biscuits every day for more than 60 years) and stewed tomatoes rounded out the meal. They would cut small pieces of the pork and mix it with my beans, and butter my biscuits. The stewed tomatoes were not my favorite, but I ate what was in front of me and didn't complain. Perhaps it was the love with which she made everything, but nobody could cook like my great-grand mother. The most simple foods had a flavor and a comforting effect that no gourmet meal can touch.

By current standards they did everything wrong. They ate butter and pork fat. They ate sugar and white flour. They ate fried foods, remind me sometime to tell you about her clam fritters. And in spite of all that they lived to ripe old ages with out succumbing to heart disease or diabetes. They lived quietly and with a deliberateness seldom seen today. How much did they know about how to live that we failed to learn?

Eat Food

Michael Pollan summed up his most recent work in seven words; Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants. Now I am going to admit that I have just started reading "In Defense of Food", but the admonition to "eat food" has gotten me to thinking. I suppose for a variety of reasons I always thought what most people ate was indeed food. By definition, if you ate it, it was food. Then on a recent trip to the grocery store, I actually started looking at many of the products lining the shelves of the store. Normally I just focus on the list. Being a man, I get the list. I go from item to item dutifully retrieving the items on my list, paying little attention to the various and sundry products not on my list. Generally the only isles I travel are canned goods and frozen foods for beans, fruits and veggies. I hit the produce, deli, dairy, and meats. During the holidays, I might visit the baking isle but thats about it. Even so, many of our groceries are purchased from our co-op where much of the food is in bulk bins, not boxes. On this particular occasion however I wandered aimlessly up and down the isles looking at all the brightly colored packages. All the while thinking, people eat this crap? I guess they must because the store certainly stocks a lot of it. I picked up a couple of boxes that had pictures of what looked like food on the cover and read the ingredients. Most of the stuff in the box wasn't anything I recognized as food. Is sodium benzoate, hydrolyzed starch, or red dye number 5 really food? They are not any where in my cupboards or list of ingredients in any of my cook books (I have a collection of more than 100). One box had a picture that looked like fish. The first Ingredient however was hydrolyzed starch, followed in order by salt, sugar, hydrogenated soybean oil, and then finally fish. It seemed like everything in these brightly colored boxes that I examined was what I would call imitation food. There is no way conceivable in my mind that a steady diet of this stuff could possibly be good for you. One of the things had processed and reformed meat. Why would you need to reform meat? Its already formed when they butcher the animal, and nature got it right the first time, it doesn't need to be reformed. For a while I had an image in my head of sending the bad meat to reform school. It was silly, but so is reformed meat. After passing what was probably an inordinate amount of time gawking at people and what was in their carts I realized that I was the only person I saw that didn't have a cart full of brightly colored boxes of imitation food. I'll bet that I was also the only person I saw that day who could stand up straight, look down and see their toes. Coincidence?