Mainstream Media vs The Mediterranean Type Diet (MTD)

People in the Low Carb community often vent their anger at the portrayal of Low Carb Diets in the media. Low carb is not all bacon, burgers and brie, as Dr Dean Ornish would have us believe. Yet these same folks who ooze vitriol at the inaccurate picture of Low Carbing are more than willing to accept the media's description of the much vaunted MTD. The typical description of the MTD consisting of mostly whole grains and low fat this that and the other is no more accurate than the media's popular picture of low carbing.

If one were to actually look at the diets of the people the MTD is based upon, you find that there is little evidence to support the low fat myth. Low fat or fat free cheese and yogurt just did not exist. The people ate real cheese, generally an ounce or two a day. The yogurt would have been the full fat custard kind like Fage, not the runny stuff available in most supermarkets today. The single biggest item to contribute to tier daily calories was olive oil. These folks got 20 - 25% of the daily calories from olive oil alone.

While it is true that bread, beans, and grains are a part of the MTD, when one looks at the portion sizes of said items, it becomes clear that Modern America, and circa 1960 Crete and Sicily bear little resemblance in understanding what constitutes a portion. To put it in contemporary serving sizes, They would have eaten about 2 slices of bread, 1/2 -2/3 thirds cup each of beans and cous cous or pasta. About what you expect in a typical phase 2 of South Beach or while in The Zone. A far cry from what we are currently presented with as ideal.

What they really constituted the bulk of tier diet was a variety of vegetables. On average 6 cups cooked plus 4 cups raw. To this add 2 or three pieces of fruit, 3 oz of fish/seafood, an egg or two, and some nuts. Coffee wine, beer and sprits of local origin would have rounded out the day. Red meat was very expensive at the time, and lack of access to it was a chief complaint among those interviewed. So it was generally reserved for the meal at weekend family dinners.

The most important part of the MTD, that we seldom hear of in the news is the lifestyle portion. Anyone who has ever traveled can tell you, they live a different life "over there". Even though it is starting to westernize, Strong family, community, and cultural ties are part of what defines life on the Mediterranean. To this add mandatory vacation, shorter work weeks, unlimited unemployment benefits and guaranteed access to health care. Unlike most of the U.S., walking and riding a bicycle is a reasonable choice of transportation for many of life's daily activities. At the time of the early surveys gas was in shortage and rationed, and cars were prohibitively expensive for most. Even now, the price of a gallon of gasoline is $8-10 on average thru out the region, so walking to and from public transportation is still common.

These Areas were still recovering from the horror and ravages of World War 2 when the survey was taken. The diet reflected the economic realities of post war Europe, and was not necessarily one of choice. The biggest mistake we see when the mainstream media portray the MTD as a panacea, is the separation of diet from lifestyle. As a Healthy Eating and Activity Pattern, (HEAP), the MTD is an exemplar of one possible solution, but it is by no means the only solution. The diet in and of itself is certainly an improvement over the Standard American Diet, but without the lifestyle portion of the equation, it falls short.

Ancient Amish Secret Ingredient

Well friends and neighbors I have just come back from a week of vacation, err, intensive research that is, in Lancaster County PA. And I am here to tell you the real secret of the Amish. Now lets not kid ourselves, the Amish do live with out many of the modern conveniences most folks consider necessities, like electricity and cars. And yes, the do travel about on bicycles, scooters, foot, and horse and buggy. The Amish also eat, a lot. I personally witnessed a petit young woman eat a rather large sausage, potatoes, cabbage, a couple of large rolls with butter and jam, a large whoopee pie and a quart of home-made root beer. She didn't even burp. After which she promptly went back to work. Had I eaten that much I would have needed a nap. Rather than approach the young woman I asked an Amish Matron, who was not so petit, what made Amish cooking so good. At first she looked at me with the kind of look a woman gives a man when he has said the wrong thing, then she softened, a little. "Young English", she said with a bit of accent, "Care we, for them that our cooking eat". After which she turned her attention to things far more pressing then my questions. (PA Dutch Grammar can be exemplified by the following sentence. Johnny run the stairs up, looked the window out, and saw the street coming down with the soldiers.) Like most things Amish there were no frills, or fancy explanations, just the simple truth. The people who are providing the food, care about what it is they are feeding the people who eat it. A quick glance at the ingredient list of Amish goods is a lesson too. I am a big fan of the potato chips, Ingredients; Potatoes, lard, salt. Pretzels, Ingredients - flour, water, salt. The bread - flour, milk, butter, salt. All made daily. You won't find any polysorbate, red dye number 6 or any other unpronounceable ingredient. Just real food, made by people who care.

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.