41 replies to this topic

[Iporuru]

My best guess would be safflower oil. Low amounts of PUFA but a low AGEs/serving compared to other oils. The lowest from the list is corn oil but it has a high PUFA factor.

Beware of this advice! While there is some high-oleic safflower oil available, conventional safflower oil actually has the highest linoleic acid content of any seed oil, as much as 75%(!), and zero omega-3. See the USDA database for a comparison.

Personally, I use extra virgin olive oil, unrefined canola oil and pastured butter in about equal amounts. Now and then I add a bit of flaxseed oil, hemp oil, pumpkin seed oil, sesame oil, red palm oil or coconut oil. All of them are delicious and provide some potent and distinctive phytochemicals or fatty acids. Combined with the fatty foods I eat (mostly fish, cheese, avocado, olives, some seeds and plenty of nuts) I once calculated to obtain a total fatty acid ratio of roughly 3:5:2:1 (saturated to monounsaturated to omega-6 to omega-3), which is pretty good.

When it comes to the issue of AGEs in olive oil (not only olive oil but all oils and fats are high in AGEs) I subscribe to what niner wrote.

Timar, would you mind writing more about your diet? Things like macronutrient ratios, frequency of your meals, if you eat meat, grains, pulses etc. The most important principles you're guided by. Do you ever fast/IF?

[timar]

Timar, would you mind writing more about your diet? Things like macronutrient ratios, frequency of your meals, if you eat meat, grains, pulses etc. The most important principles you're guided by. Do you ever fast/IF?

I don't follow caloric restriction and I eat a pretty varied diet, avoiding nothing but refined and processed food. It is probably a mixture of the traditional Mediterranean Diet and the New Nordic Diet with some elements from Asian cuisine, following the basic principles outlined by Andrew Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Diet.

The most consistent part of my diet, and the only one I'm really particular about is the musli I have for breakfast at least six days of the week. I make it out of 250ml homemade synbiotic yogurt (including 5gr on inulin and lactulose), 50gr of mixed rolled grains, 20gr of mixed dried fruits (including chokeberries), a half an apple, 30gr of frozen mixed berries, 20gr of mixed nuts, 10gr of each pumpkin seeds and ground flax seed and on the top of it all a teaspoon of grapeseed flour.

This way I start my day off with about half of the RDA of fiber, about a quarter of calcium, magesium, copper and zinc and, more importantly, about 400mg OPC (oligomeric proantocyanidins), 100mg of anthocyanines and 100mg of other flavonoids.

I usually have two more meals a day and some snacks of fruits, veggies, nuts or dark chocolate in between. Sometimes I just skip dinner or lunch. I guess you could call that IF but it is really not systematically. I plan to do a one month vegan MR/CR fast next year before Easter but have never done that before. However, I hold to the saying "everything in moderation (even moderation)", so execept for an occasional feast I follow the Japanese "hara hatchi bu" rule.

Generally, I strive to eat at least 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, with the majority being vegetables and about half of them raw, some leafy greens included. A day without a large bowl a salad (or at least a vegetable-laden dish like Ratatouille) leaves something lacking for me.

I eat meat and fish about twice a week, soy foods once a week and legumes and brassica vegetables maybe thrice each. Cheese regularly, eggs occasionally. At least half (probably closer to two thirds) of my protein is from plant sources. The macronutrient ratio varies from day to day but when I tried to estimate it, it came surprisingly close to the "classic" 1:2:3 (protein to fat to carbs) ratio.

Grains are fine for me. In the wintertime, I love an occasional slice of traditional German Schwarzbrot (a sourdough bread made from cracked and malted rye) with good cheese or liverwurst (made without curing). I also have French-style bread or pasta now and then, but always with lots of vegetables simmered in olive or canola oil.

I usually have a small glas of wine to go with my meals, sometimes a beer instead. Other than that I drink lots of unsweetened tea (green, black, herbal and hibiscus). I try to use as many herbs ans spices as I manage to fit into the dishes and thus get along with little salt. I favor fresh, organic and seasonal produce but for the sake of variety I also use frozen fruits and veggies and of course canned tomatoes and olives, which are indispensible for their culinary and health aspects.

For dessert, I like to have fresh fruits or a small piece of home-baked nut cake. Or simply an espresso with some dark chocolate.

Micheal Pollan probably would describe my diet as: real food, not too much, mostly plants.

Edited by timar, 14 December 2013 - 01:05 AM.

[Iporuru]

Thanks Timar. Do you eat blue cheeses? And what do you think of Dr. Perlmutter's views on restricting the amount of carbs, which he calls your brain's silent killers and recommends limiting them (especially gluten containing foods). He cites a lot of research and his practice as a neurologist to back up his statements.

[Gerrans]

Thanks Timar. Do you eat blue cheeses? And what do you think of Dr. Perlmutter's views on restricting the amount of carbs, which he calls your brain's silent killers and recommends limiting them (especially gluten containing foods). He cites a lot of research and his practice as a neurologist to back up his statements.

I am not as knowledgeable as Timar, but I read Perlmutter's book and I thought it was a bit of a mess. Nonetheless, it is interesting about brain function, because that is Perlmutter's specialism. The trouble is, he is not a nutritionist, and in my opinion he flounders on that topic. If you read his recommendations closely, it turns out he is not so much against carbs as against junk carbs, refined carbs--call them what you will. I think he adopts an anti-carb stance as a short cut--in practice, he offers no evidence that the healthy carbs in fruits and vegetables, for example, are bad for the brain. I suspect he exaggerates the danger of gluten to the average non-celiac person; but wheat products do seem to pack harm of one sort or another, so it is not bad advice to give them up.

Anecdote alert. My nan grew up on a vegetable farm and then ran a greengrocer's shop all her life. She had all her marbles till she died suddenly in her nineties.

Edited by Gerrans, 14 December 2013 - 06:25 PM.

[Iporuru]

Thanks Timar. Do you eat blue cheeses? And what do you think of Dr. Perlmutter's views on restricting the amount of carbs, which he calls your brain's silent killers and recommends limiting them (especially gluten containing foods). He cites a lot of research and his practice as a neurologist to back up his statements.

I am not as knowledgeable as Timar, but I read Perlmutter's book and I thought it was a bit of a mess. Nonetheless, it is interesting about brain function, because that is Perlmutter's specialism. The trouble is, he is not a nutritionist, and in my opinion he flounders on that topic. If you read his recommendations closely, it turns out he is not so much against carbs as against junk carbs, refined carbs--call them what you will. I think he adopts an anti-carb stance as a short cut--in practice, he offers no evidence that the healthy carbs in fruits and vegetables, for example, are bad for the brain. I suspect he exaggerates the danger of gluten to the average non-celiac person; but wheat products do seem to pack harm of one sort or another, so it is not bad advice to give them up.

Anecdote alert. My nan grew up on a vegetable farm and then ran a greengrocer's shop all her life. She had all her marbles till she died suddenly in her nineties.

He's a fellow of the American College of Nutrition. In an interview with Robb Wolf he says:

"Got an early start and began my research in the neurosciences at 19 and published my first paper in the Journal of Neurosurgery when I was 20. So I’ve been at this a long, long time and really when I went into neurology I was excited but at the same time I was a bit not just disappointed but I felt very inadequate because you know all we were doing was treating symptoms. We were treating the smoke and ignoring the fire. So I’ve really spent the last at least two decades trying to figure out what is the fire. What is the ultimate first order of business in terms of dealing with such devastating conditions as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, you name it? Because you know, in reality what we focused on and we as in quotes is really just treating symptoms of our most pernicious maladies that people fear the most. And you know, it’s really
become very, very clear to me that things as simple as carbohydrates are devastating for the brain. And that things like Alzheimer’s disease are preventable."

As far as gluten is concerned:
"But until folks do the skull sweat to read all the literature… I’m going to open up a file here on my desktop Celiac and gluten and in this I have 11,036 journals and peer-reviewed articles in it on Celiac, gluten-intolerance, gluten sensitivity alone and I’ve read all of them."

I guess the guy knows what he says.

[blood]

For dessert...

I'm curious to know what is your BMI, and whether you would acknowledge overweight as a factor in reduced health- and life-span?

Edited by blood, 15 December 2013 - 02:52 AM.

[timar]

For dessert...

I'm curious to know what is your BMI, and whether you would acknowledge overweight as a factor in reduced health- and life-span?

Funny that this single word made you so suspicous, the rest of what I wrote notwithstanding

My BMI somewhat below 23. I have a broad back and am rather muscular though, and I hardly manage to get any belly skin between my fingers.

When it comes to the recent controversity on BMI and mortality risk, I side with Walter Willet. It clearly was a faux pas to publicly call Flegal's study "a pile of rubbish" but I can understand his sentiment. He fought a tough and tedious battle against an armanda of lobbyist to make the public aware of the deleterious consequences of obesity, relying on the most accurate data only - and then someone like Flegal comes along, with a sloppily done meta-analysis, and doesn't shy from telling an appreciative audience basically that being obese is just all right, while simply ignoring heaps of contradictory evidence and while the food industry lobbyists are laughing up their sleeves...

Edited by timar, 15 December 2013 - 11:37 AM.

[Gerrans]

As far as gluten is concerned:
"But until folks do the skull sweat to read all the literature… I’m going to open up a file here on my desktop Celiac and gluten and in this I have 11,036 journals and peer-reviewed articles in it on Celiac, gluten-intolerance, gluten sensitivity alone and I’ve read all of them."

I guess the guy knows what he says.

He may have read a vast number of papers, but the book itself is not an academic work: it is a work of popular science, with a polemical, even tub-thumbing, style designed to shock and frighten the reader. Many of Perlmutter's generalisations are not the sort of thing you would find in journals and peer-reviewed articles. In my opinion, one needs to be cautious before swallowing everything he says whole.

Edited by Gerrans, 15 December 2013 - 11:51 AM.

[timar]

Thanks Timar. Do you eat blue cheeses? And what do you think of Dr. Perlmutter's views on restricting the amount of carbs, which he calls your brain's silent killers and recommends limiting them (especially gluten containing foods). He cites a lot of research and his practice as a neurologist to back up his statements.

I eat blue cheese now and then. I love cheese. I think cheese may well explain part of the french paradox and compounds produced by fungi like Penicillium roqueforti may contribute to that by introducing a hormetic response or by acting similar to statins. However, cheese is a high calorie food, so I generally eat it in limited amounts and prefer high quality varieties like Parmigiano, Emmentaler, Feta or Roquefort.
.
I think that gluten sensivity is largely a fad, but one with a grain of truth, so to speak. The reason that so many people feel better after switching to a gluten-free diet is that with gluten they probably have eliminated the majority of junk food from their diet. I guess there are real problems with guten sensivity other than celiac disease but I think that it is not the gluten per se which is the driving factor, but a junk food-induced dysbiosis that increases intestinal permeability and causes all kinds of food intolerances. Saitan, which is almost pure gluten, has been eaten for centuries as a substitute for animal protein without having caused an epidemy of gluten sensivity. If you feed the right bacteria in your gut, by eating foods high in fiber and phytochemicals, I wouldn't expect gluten to cause any problems. It is only a gluten-laden junk food diet which causes problems.

I think the crucial importance of the gut microbiome for health and longevity is still largely underestimated. This is why I am so particular about my musli. I have experienced tremendous health improvements from changing my breakfast habit alone, including a complete remission of all my former food allergies and even my asthmatic symptoms. I used to get a sore throat and skin rashes from eating a single half of a walnut, now I eat them by the pound. No other single dietary change nor supplement (except maybe for vitamin D) has ever made such a dramatic impact on my health.

With all that in mind, I believe Dr. Perlmutter when he claims to have observed improvements in his patients' health by putting them from the SAD to a gluten-free diet. There is indeed an intricate connection between the gut and the brain. I highly recommend to read this this fascinating and very well written series of papers by Bested, Logan and Selhub, giving an account of the history of research linking microbiota and mental health.

Edited by timar, 15 December 2013 - 12:53 PM.

[Iporuru]

As far as gluten is concerned:
"But until folks do the skull sweat to read all the literature… I’m going to open up a file here on my desktop Celiac and gluten and in this I have 11,036 journals and peer-reviewed articles in it on Celiac, gluten-intolerance, gluten sensitivity alone and I’ve read all of them."

I guess the guy knows what he says.

He may have read a vast number of papers, but the book itself is not an academic work: it is a work of popular science, with a polemical, even tub-thumbing, style designed to shock and frighten the reader. Many of Perlmutter's generalisations are not the sort of thing you would find in journals and peer-reviewed articles. In my opinion, one needs to be cautious before swallowing everything he says whole.

The book was meant for the general public, so no wonder it is not an academic work. And of course one needs to be cautious before swallowing everything anyone says... Thanks for your input.

There is indeed an intricate connection between the gut and the brain. I highly recommend to read this this fascinating and very well written series of papers by Bested, Logan and Selhub, giving an account of the history of research linking microbiota and mental health.

Thanks again Timar. I've been aware of the connection between the gut and the brain for some time.

[timar]

Now that thanks to Michael I have an own topic dedicated my diet (yay, makes me feel super important! ), I thought that I may as well use that topic to share the recipe for that infamous chocolate cake Blood was so terrified about. Here we go:

• 100 g of dark chocolate (> 70%)
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tbsp. cocao powder
• 200 g ground hazelnuts
• 1/2 cup milk*
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 eggs*
• 1 tsbp. xylitol
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour*
• 1 tsp. baking agent

Melt the chocolate in a heavy pot on low heat and mix with the canola oil and cocao powder. Take off the heat an stir in first the hazelnuts and then the milk. Whip the eggs with the xylitol until foamy and stir into the chocolate-nut mass. Mix the flour with the baking powder and stir in. Put the dough into a small 7" springform and bake for about an hour at low to medium heat.

One piece (a sixth of a half cake) has about 200 calories (20% carbs, 70% fat, 10% protein), 3.5 g fiber, 120 mg polyphenols, 30 mg of each cholesterol and phytosterols and 80 mg of theobromine. The saturated to mono- to polyunsaturated FA ratio is about 2:8:1, omega-6 to -3 is 10:1 (hazelnuts and cocoa hardly contain any ALA but the canola oil makes up for that).** I usually have one piece a day with my coffee.

* You can substitute buckwheat for wheat flour for a gluten-free variant, but the cake will be less fluffy. For a vegan variant, substitute the eggs for 2 tbsp. of ground flaxseed mixed with 4 tbsp. of hot soy milk (and of course the milk for soy milk).

** All data taken from the USDA database/SELF nutrition data tool, except for xylitol which I calculated as carbs * 0.6

[deadwood]

So fucking dumb. This board is full of complete loons and homos.

[JohnD60]

The voting algorithm is curious. By my count deadwood should about -20, but it only adds up to -5 on the readout.

[timar]

Yes, it seems to be very troll friendly

[timar]

Inspired by Darryl's great posts on the CD38 inhibitory approach to boosting NAD+, I figured that there actually is a very tasty, vegan traditional Middle Eastern dish that combines some of the plant foods providing the highest levels of the most potent CD38-inhibitory flavonoids:

It's Tabbouleh. The recipe by Mark Bittman is great, as it replaces the bulgur with quinoa. Now just black quinoa instead, which provides levels of anthocyanins similar to black rice, and you are done. Oh, and don't be stingy with the parsley, as it provides extremely high levels of apigenin (3 mg/g, one order of magnitude above any other edible plant). Add the quercetin from the onions and olives, the luteolin from the celery (use the leaves!), the olive oil polyphenols, mint flavonoids and the anthocyanins from the black quinoa (and, of course, from the red wine that goes with the Tabbouleh) and you get a polyphenolic punch providing the most potent, synergistic CD38 inhibition achievable by dietary means.

And last but not least, it tastes simply delicious...

Edited by timar, 15 February 2014 - 03:52 PM.

[Iporuru]

Excellent idea and research, Timar! Keep up the good work.

[Duchykins]

Hemp oil is not that great, if you want hemp, go seed ... and what, canola oil?! No way. Canola was one of the first things banished from my kitchen.

Extra virgin coconut oil is the bee's knees though, especially for MCTs. I rarely use any oil for cooking, so I often just scoop a little spoonful of cocnut oil and down it with water and fish oil in the mornings. And with noopept if I'm having a noopept day, since it's fat-soluble.

As for flax - if you have cut soy from your diet because of phytoestrogens, then keeping a lot of flax (whether oil or in your primary omega 3 source or your peanut butter or whatever) isn't very bright because flax has a higher phytoestrogen profile than soy. I'm just saying - *if* you were concered enough about that to eliminate soy. If not, carry on

[timar]

Excellent idea and research, Timar! Keep up the good work.

Thank you Iporuru! Let me know how your synbiotic yogurt turned out..


Hi Duchykins. Thanks for the advice, but you make a lot of statements without providing any source or explanation.

Hemp oil is not that great, if you want hemp, go seed ... and what, canola oil?! No way. Canola was one of the first things banished from my kitchen.

First, why is hemp oil "not that great"? It provides GLA and some other, unique compounds. Second, I think that canola oil is the healthiest of all oils concerning its fatty acid profile. Just get the organic, expeller-pressed variety, to make shure it is non GMO and has all the healthy glucosinolates. I know there are many ridiculous conspiracy theories out there regarding canola oil - I hope that you don't buy into this BS!

Extra virgin coconut oil is the bee's knees though, especially for MCTs. I rarely use any oil for cooking, so I often just scoop a little spoonful of cocnut oil and down it with water and fish oil in the mornings. And with noopept if I'm having a noopept day, since it's fat-soluble.

Yes, it has some healthy compounds (like the MCT) and it tastes great for Thai dishes but I wouldn't overdo it. It's certainly not the fountain of youth as it is touted by the recent hype. It's very high in saturated fats and therefore should be consumed in limited amounts only.

As for flax - if you have cut soy from your diet because of phytoestrogens, then keeping a lot of flax (whether oil or in your primary omega 3 source or your peanut butter or whatever) isn't very bright because flax has a higher phytoestrogen profile than soy. I'm just saying - *if* you were concered enough about that to eliminate soy. If not, carry on

No, I'm not concerned at all. Flax seed lignans act very differently than isoflavonoids from soy and have a much weaker estrogenic activity. The evidence is compelling that high blood levels of enterodiol and enterolactone (the so-called mammalian lignans to which flax seed lignans are metabolized by the gut flora) are associated with a whole array of positive health outcomes.

I haven't cut soy from my diet though because I was growing breasts or something, it just never was a major part of it

Edited by timar, 16 February 2014 - 08:34 AM.

[Duchykins]

Excellent idea and research, Timar! Keep up the good work.

Thank you Iporuru! Let me know how your synbiotic yogurt turned out..


Hi Duchykins. Thanks for the advice, but you make a lot of statements without providing any source or explanation.

Hemp oil is not that great, if you want hemp, go seed ... and what, canola oil?! No way. Canola was one of the first things banished from my kitchen.

First, why is hemp oil "not that great"? It provides GLA and some other, unique compounds. Second, I think that canola oil is the healthiest of all oils concerning its fatty acid profile. Just get the organic, expeller-pressed variety, to make shure it is non GMO and has all the healthy glucosinolates. I know there are many ridiculous conspiracy theories out there regarding canola oil - I hope that you don't buy into this BS!

Extra virgin coconut oil is the bee's knees though, especially for MCTs. I rarely use any oil for cooking, so I often just scoop a little spoonful of cocnut oil and down it with water and fish oil in the mornings. And with noopept if I'm having a noopept day, since it's fat-soluble.

Yes, it has some healthy compounds (like the MCT) and it tastes great for Thai dishes but I wouldn't overdo it. It's certainly not the fountain of youth as it is touted by the recent hype. It's very high in saturated fats and therefore should be consumed in limited amounts only.

As for flax - if you have cut soy from your diet because of phytoestrogens, then keeping a lot of flax (whether oil or in your primary omega 3 source or your peanut butter or whatever) isn't very bright because flax has a higher phytoestrogen profile than soy. I'm just saying - *if* you were concered enough about that to eliminate soy. If not, carry on

No, I'm not concerned at all. Flax seed lignans act very differently than isoflavonoids from soy and have a much weaker estrogenic activity. The evidence is compelling that high blood levels of enterodiol and enterolactone (the so-called mammalian lignans to which flax seed lignans are metabolized by the gut flora) are associated with a whole array of positive health outcomes.

I haven't cut soy from my diet though because I was growing breasts or something, it just never was a major part of it

Cool beans.

I only use extra virgin coconut oil. It makes a difference; don't use regular coconut oil because there's too much cholesterol. I got it primarily for my daughter since it comes highly recommended for kids with speech delays, autism or attention deficit problems. I wasn't aware of fountain of youth stuff with that oil, and it sounds like bullshit already. I just take it for the MCTs, slow burning, no-crash energy, healthy weight maintenence. It's also very convenient for taking fat-soluble supplements with when I don't feel hungry or want to eat something (like how some people take a little spoonful of olive oil with their fish oil).

Saturated fats are not the devil but they are unfortunately demonized wholesale much like carbs, oxidants, free radicals and phytoestrogens, almost everything people think they know about saturated fats is BS taken from context and blown out of proportion - it's just that people get too much of them in the wrong way, mostly from garbage foods.

But people are ignorant and tend too much toward intuitive reasoning with too little knowledge and too much baseless confidence in their knowledge. That's why niacin is called 'niacin' on most vitamin labels all over ther world rather than 'nicotinic acid' - the average person would see 'nicotine' and come to the wrong conclusions. Same thing with 'cannabinoid'.

Sorry, I didn't mean to rant there, hahah, that particular subject has always been a peeve of mine. But you do have good points.

I wasn't aware of conspiracy theories about canola oil. But I'm going to go google it now and have some laughs, that kind of stuff always cracks me up. Take it easy, guy. :D

[bracconiere]

I only use extra virgin coconut oil. It makes a difference; don't use regular coconut oil because there's too much cholesterol.

Do you mean raises your cholesterol too much? There's no cholesterol in plants, I think.......Plants use phytosterols

[chemicalambrosia]

The most consistent part of my diet, and the only one I'm really particular about is the musli I have for breakfast at least six days of the week. I make it out of 250ml homemade synbiotic yogurt (including 5gr on inulin and lactulose), 50gr of mixed rolled grains, 20gr of mixed dried fruits (including chokeberries), a half an apple, 30gr of frozen mixed berries, 20gr of mixed nuts, 10gr of each pumpkin seeds and ground flax seed and on the top of it all a teaspoon of grapeseed flour.

You have a lot of "mixes" . What are in all of those mixes, especially the grains and nuts?

[Duchykins]

I only use extra virgin coconut oil. It makes a difference; don't use regular coconut oil because there's too much cholesterol.

Do you mean raises your cholesterol too much? There's no cholesterol in plants, I think.......Plants use phytosterols

Yes. Sorry for odd wording but I use a tablet with the most awkwardly infuriating keyboard ever invented and it really discourages writing complete sentences with proper grammar and punctuation. I am not of the touchscreen generation lol

[timar]

You have a lot of "mixes" . What are in all of those mixes, especially the grains and nuts?

Oh, when I write "mixed", I mean to suggest that it is actually not that important which specific types of that kind of food in which exact ratios you choose, as all of them offer quite similar benefits. The more variety, the better. I'm not that detail-obsessed because I think that an overall healthy dietary pattern is more important than the specific foods it includes, so I specify only the most important single components, which are the cornerstones to my diet.

To answer your question though, this is ingredient list from the cheap (3€ / kg!) store brand of muesli I buy:

Rolled cereal grains 60% (oat, wheat, rye, barley), dried fruits 30% (sultanas, dates, banana chips, cranberries, figs, apples, apricots, pears, plums, strawberries, sour cherries, raspberries), granola [oats, oligofructose, canola oil], corn rice flakes [corn, rice, sugar, salt], sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds.

Isn't it amazing how inexpensive healthy, nutritious food can be when there actually is a broad demand for it?

Mixed nuts is usually almonds, cashews and walnuts. I use hazelnuts for my cake and snack some other nuts as well.

[timar]

Saturated fats are not the devil but they are unfortunately demonized wholesale much like carbs, oxidants, free radicals and phytoestrogens, almost everything people think they know about saturated fats is BS taken from context and blown out of proportion - it's just that people get too much of them in the wrong way, mostly from garbage foods.

Amen to that! Demonizing single nutrients and trying to religiously avoid them, is almost always more likely to reduce the overall quality of the diet (by avoiding otherwise healthy foods or substituting them with inferior surrogates) than to actually improve it.

Think of margarine. Or all that low-fat, high-refined-carb junk...

Edited by timar, 21 February 2014 - 06:48 PM.

[dunbar]

Very interesting thread.

Could you make a list of the fruits and veggies which you usually eat? And do you buy normal or organic?

And how exactly does making yoghurt work?
Are there any health risks associated with it like for example growth of harmful bacteria in the
yoghurt?

And if for example a person has a bad gut flora can things like eating homemade
yoghurt really change much about that or is it not going to cut it? I'm asking cause I heard that the probiotic
supermarket yoghurts are pretty much useless and that instead on should take probiotics as supplements
which need to be specially coated and formulated to even survive in the stomach.

[chemicalambrosia]

You have a lot of "mixes" . What are in all of those mixes, especially the grains and nuts?

Oh, when I write "mixed", I mean to suggest that it is actually not that important which specific types of that kind of food in which exact ratios you choose, as all of them offer quite similar benefits. The more variety, the better. I'm not that detail-obsessed because I think that an overall healthy dietary pattern is more important than the specific foods it includes, so I specify only the most important single components, which are the cornerstones to my diet.

To answer your question though, this is ingredient list from the cheap (3€ / kg!) store brand of muesli I buy:

Rolled cereal grains 60% (oat, wheat, rye, barley), dried fruits 30% (sultanas, dates, banana chips, cranberries, figs, apples, apricots, pears, plums, strawberries, sour cherries, raspberries), granola [oats, oligofructose, canola oil], corn rice flakes [corn, rice, sugar, salt], sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds.

Isn't it amazing how inexpensive healthy, nutritious food can be when there actually is a broad demand for it?

Mixed nuts is usually almonds, cashews and walnuts. I use hazelnuts for my cake and snack some other nuts as well.

Your muesli has a larger selection of fruits in it than many Americans eat in a whole year! It sounds interesting, I wish they sold that here. Do you eat those grains raw, or do you cook them?

I bought this from a supermarket, even though it seems boring compared to what you have: http://www.vitacost....y-style-18-oz-1

[DAMI]

Timar, what is your motivation for eating grains? Also, what do your Lipids and HbA1c look like?

[DAMI]

Also what does your lunch/dinner look like when you dont have meat or fish?

[timar]

Weird questions IMO

 

Timar, what is your motivation for eating grains? Also, what do your Lipids and HbA1c look like?

 

Why should I need any special motivation to eat grains? After all, they have nourished the last few hundred generations of my ancestors. If anything, one should ask for a motivation not to eat grains. As I don't suffer from gluten intolerance, I see and experience only benefits from eating whole grains. They are a great source of fiber (soluble and insoluble), tocopherols, tocotrienols, phytosterols, polyamines and other beneficial phytochemicals, provide low-GI complex carbohydrates and combine with legumes to provide high quality protein.

 

Yes, I know what my lipids and blood sugar looks like (both are excellent). Do you really believe that eating grains per se causes bad lipids or even high blood glucose? Eating a high saturated fat, animal protein paleo-style diet causes high cholesterol and insulin resistance for most (not all) people, while eating large amounts of refined starches and sugars on top of such a diet (=SAD) dangerously lowers HDL, raises triglycerides and causes postprandial hyperglycemia. Whole grains and fruits packed with fiber and phytonutrients are completely different types of food compared with refined starches and sugars and even the effect of refined grains depends on the overall dietary context (they seem to be much more benign in a diet low in saturated fat and animal protein but high in fiber and phytonutrients).

 

Also what does your lunch/dinner look like when you dont have meat or fish?

 

Uhm, very variable. That depends on where I am, what is available and, last but not least, what I fancy. Your question seems to imply the popular but preposterous notion that a decent dish has always to be constructed around a piece of meat or fish. I could instantly think of dozens if not hundreds of entirely satisfying vegetarian or even vegan dishes. Take, for example, the tabbouleh I posted above, or whole-grain pasta with a variety of sauces or pesti or the vast variety of dishes you can make with bulgur and quinoa. There are as many, or more ways to prepare vegetables as there are ways to prepare meat: broccoli cooked in tomato-sauce with garlic, broccoli sauteed in olive oil with roasted almond slices or broccoli blended into a creamy soup. Soon pumpkin season will begin and I will take delight again in oven-roasted hokaido or butternut, or pumpkin soup, just as I gorge on fresh asparagus in the spring. Right now in the heat of summer I like to eat a lot of refreshing salad greens and raw vegetables. Sometimes I fry a large amount of falafel, keep it in the fridge and eat only a few a time with humus and a lot of salad dressed with yogurt and wrapped in whole-grain pita. Last week I made my own pizza with buffalo mozzarella and tossed it with lots of arugula, cherry tomatoes and kalamata olives, some freshly grated parmegiano and olive oil. Another day I had some roasted onions and tofu stripes on a bed of grated raw carrots and apples dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. Other dishes I recently had were dal masala, a hearty Indian soup made with red lentils, onions, tomatoes and coconut cream; chili sin carne (pero con muchos frijoles); ratatouille made from onions, tomatoes, bell pepers, aubergine and zucchini; green beens stir-fried with carrots, button mushrooms and potato wedges; parboiled rice stir-fried with mung bean sprous, shiitake mushrooms and pak choy. I could go on and on but I hope those few examples suffice to show you that it is really not limiting your choices at all to eat vegetarian. What limits most people dietary choices is the lack of curiosity, time and interest to explore the virtually unlimited possibilities of today's multi-ethnic cuisine.

Edited by timar, 05 August 2014 - 11:07 AM.

[timar]

Isn't it funny how some poeple seem to consider everything "ill informed" they don't agree with for some reason (ever wondered why there is a "disagree" tag)? Even more funny given the fact I haven't written anything outright negative or even controversial about Paleo dieting. You don't have to read the scientific literature, every paleo/low-carb advocate with some medical experience and intellectual honesty (given there is such a paradoxical person - maybe Chris Kresser comes close) will agree that a high-saturated fat and protein diet will almost certainly increase total cholesterol and cause at least temporary insulin resistance. They would however deny that this is a bad thing. It certainly is as soon as you add refined carbohydrates to such a dietary pattern, which unfortunately comes pretty close to the SAD.

Edited by timar, 05 August 2014 - 02:27 PM.