Eat Like the Animals: What Nature Teaches Us About Healthy Eating
You’ve got five appetites — not just one
The trick to satisfying them is to eat like an orangutan, not a labrador, says Michael Odell https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...t-one-qzmkrn3jh Quote:
Quote:
|
There is no requirement for any carb intake for humans.
|
I stopped reading and started skimming at "vegetarian." :rolleyes:
Labradors do quite fine on a diet of fresh meat. The fact that they are capable of seeking out junk food doesn't negate the fact that they are still essentially wolves. (Domestic dogs were reclassified as a subspecies of Canis lupus a while back.) "Eat your protein requirement but no more." So orangutans measure their protein intake? I know they're intelligent, but... |
I prefer to eat like a cat on its natural diet of 9% carbs or less.
|
He says 15% protein, but doesn't give a percentage for fat and carbs. I can't imagine they advocate high fat, so again we have a plan that calls for the vast majority of calories to be from carbs. Exactly what caused the obesity problem we see today.
Also, this is still based on calories in and calories out. He says if "Mary" ate a chocolate bar (290 calories) every day, in 2 years she'll put on 26 pounds. But the math is wrong, or they're using some different calculation. 290 multiplied by 730 (number of days in 2 years) is 211,700. If 3500 calories equals 1 pound, you would divide 211,700 by 3500 and come up with 60.48. Why just 26 pounds? Why not 60 pounds? We all know our bodies are not machines, and CICO doesn't work. And why model our eating on an orangutan? They're primarily vegetarians, but when fruit becomes scarce, they have been known to hunt for meat (slow lorises, according to an article I read). Call me skeptical on this one. |
Tom Naughton (Fat Head) had a post a while back about eating like a gorilla. Not pretty! :D
Based on my variety of animals I think we seek out what is best for us - as long as our food pickers aren't broken. My donkeys thrive on hay, brush, & tree bark, but get fat with too many treats like carrots & apples. Same for the rabbits; I've noticed that if I give them too much fresh grass, they simply don't eat it all. The cats, however, prefer meat & go hunting for it (we live in the woods with way too many squirrels & mice), and the chickens will eat anything. My food picker is broken due to many decades of eating the wrong foods. But, having a brain, I can figure out what works best. Keeping a food diary with my weight & blood sugar has been a big help. I KNOW what works best for me. Do I always eat right? Unfortunately, no. I'm still a work in progress. :) |
Dr. Ted Naiman has also pointed out how the modern diet has diluted protein content and people (and captive animals without access to wild food choices) will continue eating carbs/fats/junk/whatever until they meet their protein requirement even if it means overeating energy to do it because protein is so important. Important enough that I eat well more than 15% as daily calories. I no longer buy into the theory they alluded to about too much protein causing shorter lifespan, the concept that plentiful dietary protein overstimulates mTOR and makes us get cancer or whatever and shortens our lives. Protein builds healthy muscle, what Dr. Gabrielle Lyon refers to as the "organ of longevity," prevents frailty in the elderly etc. Protein in the proper sufficient amount does stimulate mTOR briefly to cause healthy muscle building and repair, but what turns mTOR on and runs it constantly in an unhealthy manner is carbohydrate. Unfortunately that's precisely what plant-based folks who fear the mTOR effects of animal protein are likely eating a lot of. I eat my generous serving of protein a few times a day to keep my muscles and body strong and then let mTOR turn off the rest of the time through low carb. Other than carbs, I found it intersting the body is hunting for certain amounts of things like sodium and calcium. If I focus on the things they mentioned (skipping carbs) maybe I'll see added appetite-regulation benefits.
|
Having had a few dogs... and more than a few cats.....
I had cats that left all mice and chicks alone that lived in the house, but wicked hunters when outdoors. And rotties that never touched a cat or chicken inside the house or out in the yard. If bird or cat entered the dog run, it ran for its life..... cats slid thru the picket fence to never enter again, but not afraid of the dog in the house. My lab endlessly ate peaches and tomatoes he picked himself.......ad lib..... The rotties and labs tend to become fat easily...... my dogs get 6:1 fasting diet. All had long lives. |
Quote:
Likewise, my decades in rescue have resulted in me feeding my cats mostly canned food. They eat the grain-free dry occasionally, especially overnight. But not much. And none of them are overweight. That's not just me, that's astonished vets who have been known to exclaim, "And none of this is fat!" :lol: While cats are obligate carnivores, I sometimes wonder if I am, too. This was quite dramatic when I spent a "health weekend" on a writing assignment. Food was included and while the lady in charge was sympathetic to my needs, I was hungry the entire time. All around me were slim and vibrant people chowing down on things I had to avoid. Different gene patterns, I am certain. Also, every time I try to reduce my protein to match those calculators, I get hungry, my health status decreases, and I abandon the experiment. I get along a LOT better by reducing my carb content with the goal of "vanishingly small." |
Quote:
Planning food intake based on percentages is not the way to go. 15% protein may be ok as 75g in a 2000-calorie diet for a small person, but how many small people can eat 2000 cals/day unless they are athletes, but most athletes need more protein than the minimum. Most small people on diets eat 1200 cals or less (I did at 5'6" with a medium-large frame), and 15% of that is only 45g protein, which may be the RDA for someone their size, but RDAs are the minimum to prevent disease, not the optimum amount. And having been a vegetarian for a few years in the past, I found that my fingernails & hair were extremely brittle and I was exhausted most of the time on so little protein, and I was religiously combining proteins to make sure that I got them all when only eating plants. Even when combined perfectly, I am not convinced that plant protein is used by human bodies as well as animal protein. My guess is ~50% based on how exhausted I felt. If I doubled my plant protein, I had more energy, but that plant protein came with more carbs and I gained or failed to lose weight. I prefer to first set my protein goal (>80g/day and >30g per meal keeps me feeling full and energetic), then my carb goal (<30g/day and <12g/meal) and let the fat and calories fall where they may. My protein percent typically falls in the 18-40% range. >2 years ago I aimed for 20-25% protein and 5% net carbs, which meant I ate more fat and depleted my on-board pantry (body fat) slowly or not at all. If I drop below 80g/day protein (while IFing), my fingernails start chipping and flaking, so I make a point to eat more protein when having only one or two meals a day. 200 years ago people had 14 kids & died young because they did not have access to birth control and typically died of infections or accidents. People including doctors did not even wash their hands before delivering babies because they didn't understand germs. My ancestors alive 200 yrs ago were mostly farmers, teachers, stone masons & miners. Many of the men lived to be 65-90 (living in areas of plentiful fish and game); the farmers had 12-14 kids, but by 2-3 wives due to complications of childbirth and the need for a new wife to care for the motherless children. |
I have this book. I was excited at first until I skimmed the book and came to the chapter where they criticize low carbing and sang the praises of healthy whole grains. Such a disappointment.
|
Quote:
What book is that? |
The book is titled Eat Like The Animals, mentioned in the bottom of the first post.
|
Quote:
My own experience bears this out. One thing the quoted article gets right, (that I also see with cats,) is that our bodies will be hungry until we get enough nutrients. This is how I explain the paradoxical craving for foods which turn out not to be good for us. Since these foods "don't work" to supply us with nutrients, the body assumes this is the only foods we have around. (Why else are we eating junk? This is an evolutionary position, not one modeled on the modern world.) So, like me with vegetable protein, the body "tells me" to eat more of the inadequate food, in an attempt to get nutrition from it. It also explains how eating Keto, focusing on animal foods my body gets along with, has eliminated so many cravings. I'm hungry, and then I eat good food, and then I'm not hungry any more. This is my body working as it should. |
If consuming exclusively plant protein the amount must be doubled compared with animal protein to achieve similar muscle-building effects due to low leucine content among other things like being tougher to digest due to plant-protective anti-nutrients, fiber, etc. Since even the best whole food plant protein sources come naturally paired with abundant energy as carbs or plant fats, getting sufficient protein without too much energy is a problem which could require significant supplementation with concentrated plant protein products (if tolerated) by those who don't desire to use any animal products such as whey. I ceased being vegetarian years ago due to the high carbohydrate load which was pushing me into diabetes and now prefer a very low carb diet based on animal foods. My weight and blood sugars are better and I feel better.
|
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 22:27. |
Copyright © 2000-2024 Active Low-Carber Forums @ forum.lowcarber.org
Powered by: vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.