Sugar, seed oils and my thoughts and some questions after reading four good health books.

aja8888

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Over the last several weeks, I have been reading some popular health related books. They are as follows:

Sugar Crush: How to Reduce Inflammation, Reverse Nerve Damage, and Reclaim Good Health (Jacoby) - absolutely scared me about sugar intake!

Outlive, the Science and Art of Longevity (Attia) - Good book but really could have been ½ the size without Attia’s personal life issues. I am surprised his wife and kids are still with him..

Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine (Lustig) - A hard book to read, and confusing. Very technical and discusses the history of the food processing industry in the US. Basically warns on eating processed foods and says eat only Real Food, but doesn’t go into exactly what he would recommend for Real Foods.

The Ancestral Diet Revolution (Knobbe, Alexander) - This was a *mind blowing* book as to his take (with lots of graphs and charts) on the negative health effects of most seed oils in today’s food. After finishing the book, it’s clear to me that most seed oils (aka, "vegetable" oils) are going to be eliminated (minimized?) from my choice of foods going forward if I can actually do it.

This was a lot of reading, and I am trying to put all this information into a cohesive plan.

I’m 81, and have been in really good health all of my life (except for many broken bones and some new metal parts); No lipid or other organ issues (great blood work), no heart issues (other than a SVT issue 7 years ago and fixed), BP normal, slightly over ideal weight, and so on. Plus, my level of activity has been great with no mobility issues. I’m playing golf weekly and workout at the gym twice a week. So, in a nutshell, I have been lucky for my age.

Until last July, I have been taking one med (Flowmax generic) for BPH which is common in older men. Plus, I take vitamin D3 and a small baby aspirin.

July Issue

In July, I had a temporary loss of vision in my right eye (known as Amaurosis fugax) which was the result of an eye artery becoming temporarily blocked due to a particle of plaque getting into it.

This led to a hospital stay and dozens of scans and tests over a week's time. Out of this, I ended up with a small stent being placed in my right carotid artery as it was 70% blocked. Subsequent tests (stress and others) resulted in the fact that my heart arteries are clear and my pump (heart) is good, but the electronic stuff needed some help (pacemaker install) due to low resting heart rate (30 - 40 BPM). Heart Ejection Factor is 80% at rest and 74% under load which is excellent for my age.

So with clear arteries (except for one in my neck), I am on a statin (Lipitor), even though my recent/historical cholesterol is 160) and I am starting to suspect my diet is not sufficient to keep me healthy for another 10 years or longer, if I believe one half of what's in the books I just read..

My goal in reading the above books is to 1; evaluate my current diet (if you could call it that), and 2; re-establish an eating plan and eliminate the bad stuff to maximize my longevity.

A review of my fridge and pantry shows that most of my food here contains some form of sugar (or several forms), some oils like palm, sunflower, canola, soybean, etc. and even my recently bought ½ gallon of Almond Milk has soybean oil in it! I would like to minimize or even eliminate the sugar, HFCS, and seed oils as a goal, understanding that this is near impossible without moving into the woods, shooting wild game and growing vegetables and fruit trees. I'm looking for some discussion or thoughts on your experiences if your thinking about sugar and seed oil dangers is aligned in this manner. Some opening questions:

Anyone here trying to eliminate bad seed oils (high Omega 6 loading) and sugar from their diets?

If so, what is your success and do you have any recommendations as to where to get foods that are very low (or zero) in bad oils and sugar. And with respect to important vitamins like A, D, K2, etc, do you use supplements or eat food that is rich in them?

Are "pasture raised" eggs bought from Costco, for instance, really as good as a local farmer's eggs? How do we know what the chickens were fed?

What about beef from grocery stores and butcher shops. Are Prime cuts fed differently than Select?

Etc,
 
Happy to hear you are going to change diet.

I have had great success adjusting for over a year now.

I tend to be obsessive compulsive so you may not be willing to go as hard core as me. But you will find that as you cut out sugar and processed carbs your satiety hormones will change and it becomes easier. The first week may be hard and you may want to ease into it.

I now eat basically the same stuff over and over. I also only eat twice a day, 9:00 and 4:00.

Breakfast is 2 eggs, broccoli or asparagus, roasted red peppers and half the time a link of breakfast sausage from the grass fed beef farm. I follow this with half a cup of berries, lately frozen organic blueberries and a couple spoons of full fat organic yogurt. I use Kerry gold grass fed butter and I drink black coffee.

For the second meal I mix up chicken breast or tenders, free range if I can get it but always antibiotic free, grass fed Hamburg or steak when I splurge, wild salmon or wild smoked salmon in a can.

I mix up broccoli, asparagus, brussel sprouts and califlower. I get spring mix salad greens. I buy some olive oil from morrocco that seems to be real and put it on all the vegetables and add balsamic vinegar on the salad. I eat a lot of avacados.

I also eat a lot of macadamia nuts and walnuts and several spoonfulls of Kim chi. These I snack on while starting to prepare food.

I basically threw out anything that is processed or containing flour or rice. If you have to eat bread then Ezechial bread is best.

Hard core but that is how I do it now. I am 68 and in quite a bit worse shape than you.

My labs are very good except for cholesterol, which tends to go up when eating this way. My cardiologist pushed me onto 10mg rosuvastatin and I talked him into adding 10mg ezetimibe when he wanted to bump the rosuvastatin.

I read two of your books.

Congrats and good luck.
 
If you take D3 you should consider also taking vitamin K2 and magnesium glycinate.

K2 might help direct calcium to the right place. D3 helps to absorb calcium.

D3 depletes magnesium which it needs to be absorbed.

On statins you should consider coenzyme Q10 since statins interfere with this pathway.
 
In addition to eating a low carb diet we have worked hard to eliminate seed oils. As a result I make several of our own condiments such as mayonnaise, salad dressings. So it’s a bit more work. Some people use the Primal Kitchen line of products.

Other condiments like mustards, vinegar, pickles are usually fine as they don’t normally add oil. But you have to look out for things like olives - sometimes sunflower or soybean oil is added. So yeah we keep an eye on the labels.
 
I wanted to eat artichokes but every can in my store contained seed oil and the raw zones seemed daunting to cook. I guess I will need to learn.

The other trick is not to eat the so called healthy or keto-mojo versions of the tasty bad foods. They will just trick your brain into back sliding and probably still have hidden bad stuff.
 
The key is avoiding processed foods - frozen premade, or prepackaged things in aisles. And then to accept that getting to zero is not realistic or helpful, but getting to near zero is pretty good.

So instead of that pre-made meal, we just buy the meats, veggies, pasta, etc. If we get bread, it's bakery made, not bulk-shelf stuff. If the food-thing is in a box or a can or a plastic bag, it's probably something you want to minimize.

Condiments are usually eaten in very small quantities, but still when we have ketchup we get the low-sugar one. I can't remember the last time I used any mayo, but I have a one that's made with olive oil in the fridge. Labels are important - I looked at red pasta sauces a while ago and landed on one with the lowest sugar (and the lowest added sugar is important to me).

For Oil I use EVOlive and have for years. I only recently heard about the seed oil panic, not sure I care as I use so little of it anyway.

As far as eggs, Pasture-raised is important to me as it's the only real healthy/humane environment for the chickens. Cage-free/Free-range, have become meaningless. Sure they aren't battery chickens mostly, but free-range just means on little door on the warehouse... But we don't eat many eggs at all so I'd never make use of buying them at costco. The ones in the regular stores usually say the name of the farm so you can look them up.

Prime vs. select/choice is usually to do with the marbling and...price! And not the diet of the cow. But I've also taken to avoiding my Publix for most meats and getting them from a small place where they look fresher and like they arrived at the shop as a slab.
 
I wanted to eat artichokes but every can in my store contained seed oil and the raw zones seemed daunting to cook. I guess I will need to learn.

The other trick is not to eat the so called healthy or keto-mojo versions of the tasty bad foods. They will just trick your brain into back sliding and probably still have hidden bad stuff.
I have found canned artichokes with only citric acid and salt added. Maybe another brand had a bit of vinegar. So keep looking.

Steaming artichokes is straightforward. They take a while to maybe 35-45 mins depending on the size. I use a temp probe making sure the heart is at least 190 to be done. I basically cut a bit off the top, pull a few leaves off around the stem end. Cut a bit off the stem, rub over with a cut lemon, and steam in a big steamer with the stem end up.
 
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I cut out years ago all processed sugar, snacks, and junk food, (ice cream).
I do use a little honey only in my coffee.
I take Multi vitamin, D3, in the morning and magnesium glycinate after dinner.

My breakfast is either oatmeal, Greek yogurt, and sometimes two eggs with 2 slices of wheat bread. Also add some whey protein powder.

Throughout the day, I eat probably too many nuts, berries, fruits.
Tuna, salmon, chicken, (on occasion little red meat) veggies, legumes, salad for dinner.
Nothing else after dinner.
I am 68 very active, thin build, and feel fine with no major medical problems To date,🤞.
Good luck to all and your healthy lifestyle.
 
I wanted to eat artichokes but every can in my store contained seed oil and the raw zones seemed daunting to cook. I guess I will need to learn.

The other trick is not to eat the so called healthy or keto-mojo versions of the tasty bad foods. They will just trick your brain into back sliding and probably still have hidden bad stuff.
I press out the oil using paper towels. Costco used to carry artichoke hearts in water, but no longer does. That’s a shame.
 
Thanks for all the tips so far. I got rid of most of the oil-laced food stuff in the house over the weekend. Now it's off to find some new things which fit the new eating lifestyle. Fortunately, I have not been eating at fast food places in many years and have been off most sugar/carb stuff for quite some time (not Keto, but under 100 grams per day). The oil issues are new to me.
 
Are "pasture raised" eggs bought from Costco, for instance, really as good as a local farmer's eggs? How do we know what the chickens were fed?

If they are pasture raised chickens they are probably eating all sorts of bugs and things that crawl about in and under the ground. IOW, the foods they would eat if humans weren’t around to feed them something else.
 
If they are pasture raised chickens they are probably eating all sorts of bugs and things that crawl about in and under the ground. IOW, the foods they would eat if humans weren’t around to feed them something else.
I suspect that's correct, unless they bed them in a cage at night and then feed them some corn meal.

We had two chickens when we lived in California (two Rhode Island Reds hens) and they roamed the small ranch we had, but at night got in the coop and ate "chicken scratch". They did lay a lot of eggs, but I never thought about what they ate. They ate a lot of snails which were prevalent in the area we were at.

I'm probably being too anal about this stuff after reading those books.
 
I read a lot about human health and how to age well. My goal is to eliminate or drastically reduce my consumption of the biggest bad boys of our modern diets. Sugar is at the top of that list for me. Farther down is white flour, rice, and highly processed foods (I’ll let you define “highly processed” for yourself). Alcohol consumption is way down also. I eat less red meat since saturated fat in red meat seems to be the worst form of saturated fat.

One thing I have learned is to be very careful of hot trends and new discoveries in human health. The field of human health is filled with ‘bad science’. If you doubt that look at the low-fat movement of the 70’s and 80’s. Saturated fats may is the boogeyman. Except that saturated fats in dairy products may not be that bad. Eggs were bad, except that now we know ingested cholesterol is not a major source of too much cholesterol. 10 eggs a week are now OK even for heart patients. Coffee was bad, except that moderate consumption may be helpful in regards to prostrate health and even avoiding diabetes.
 
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I read a lot about human health and how to age well. That has helped me rid reduce a lot of the bad things I used to consume with Sugar on top of the list. Farther down is while flour, rice, and highly processed foods (I’ll let you define highly processed for yourself). Alcohol consumption is way down also. I eat less red meat since saturated fat in red meat seems to be the worst form of saturated fat.

One thing I have learned is go be very careful of hot trends and new discoveries in human health. The field of human health is filled with ‘bad science’. For example, a few years ago fasting was the in thing to do. Now they are finding that it may contribute to a lack of some nutrients if all our food is consumed in too short a period of time. Better to space out meals. OK. Fat used to be the big bad boy. Now we know good fats are necessary in our diet. Saturated fat is bad, except that saturated fat in dairy may not be that bad. Even butter fat may not be that bad as it’s a different type of saturated fat. Green tea is better than coffee. But, if you are a man there is a strong link between reasonable coffee consumption and less prostrate cancer. And coffee may help to resist diabetes. Maybe.
Good points! The Western Diet sure I a crapshoot.

When I was in the hospital in July, they were trying to feed me "heart healthy" food. The first meal I was given was pancakes with sugary syrup (no bacon!). I said no thanks. When I looked at the hospital menu, it was mostly carb loaded foods. No telling what else was in any of them. So I ate a daily omelette for breakfast and grilled chicken or fish for the other meals. But I had to order on my own, which I was able to do with some granted permissions.
 
I just saw an abstract from journal of oncology that linked O6 oils to making prostate cancer grow faster, or at least 15% slower for the O3 heavy group.
 
I think about how my parents and grandparents ate (Dad grew up on a farm); Fresh butter, milk, eggs, butchered meats/beef/chicken/or venison if they hunted, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables.
And I try to eat much the same, pay attention to additives, only use olive oil or butter(kerrygold).
I do buy ready made products, but read labels. I do buy frozen veg/fruits also.
And, I admit, do buy ready made bakery items/ice cream/candies. They make up a very small part of my food intake, and not daily.

The Mediterranean diet or DASH diet are both heart healthy ones.

It is important to read labels on your food, pay attention to additives, corn oil, corn syrup, nitrates/nitrites. It's almost impossible to eliminate all of the noted "bad for you" stuff, but you certainly can reduce the amount in your diet.
 
We try to limit carbs and prefer to use clarified butter for sauteing. We did make our own ice-cream yesterday using whole milk (fairlife - reduced sugar), heavy cream and stevia. My husband is type 2 diabetic and it has been eye opener since I met him some 17 years ago which has driven me to reduce carb intake.
 
Anyone else besides me on a carnivore diet?

I'm an omnivore (vacillating between low carb - and keto), but I do see a lot of support for your choice. Occasionally I toy with the possibility of temporarily (30 - 90 days) trying carnivore (w/o dairy) as an elimination diet due to an auto immune condition.
 
I haven't eaten sugar or white flour since dinosaurs roamed the earth, and accordingly have read labels for years. I "went keto" a few months before retirement. Since retirement I "upped" organic and pasture raised. Seed oils left the building here about two years ago both due to the processing and the high Omega 3 content. That was rather painful as I had to jettison some protein powders which I had thought were "healthy." I do use unheated EVOO for salads / flavoring, and lard (from pasture raised beef) on the rare occasion I fry something. I do eat grass fed beef and wild caught fish and won't buy farm raised fish. We do eat Kerry Gold butter, and I can eat that and imported goat and sheep cheese, or goat or sheep yogurt without triggering a flare. I eat low carb, non- night shade and non - leptin vegetables to the extent possible.

I am trying to use the insta pot more for cooking (wet heat instead of dry heat due to AGEs). I heard about that during a podcast by a cardiologist and actually started that for the doggo's benefit.

I do take supplements, which now include, but are not limited to, D3, K2, magnesium glycinate. There is enough beta carotene in my multi vitamin so I don't supplement with vitamin A.

I started to make calcium supplements for the doggo with pasture raised eggs (recipe and nutritional profile on Pete and Jerry's website) and have started taking small doses of that as well.
 
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I haven't eaten sugar or white flour since dinosaurs roamed the earth, and accordingly have read labels for years. I "went keto" a few months before retirement. Since retirement I "upped" organic and pasture raised. Seed oils left the building here about two years ago both due to the processing and the high Omega 3 content. That was rather painful as I had to jettison some protein powders which I had thought were "healthy." I do use unheated EVOO for salads / flavoring, and lard (from pasture raised beef) on the rare occasion I fry something. I do eat grass fed beef and wild caught fish and won't buy farm raised fish. We do eat Kerry Gold butter, and I can eat that and imported goat and sheep cheese, or goat or sheep yogurt without triggering a flare. I eat low carb, non- night shade and non - leptin vegetables to the extent possible.

I am trying to use the insta pot more for cooking (wet heat instead of dry heat due to AGEs). I heard about that during a podcast by a cardiologist and actually started that for the doggo's benefit.

I do take supplements, which now include D3, K2, magnesium glycinate. There is enough beta carotene in my multi vitamin so I don't supplement with vitamin A.

I started to make calcium supplements for the doggo with pasture raised eggs (recipe and nutritional profile on Pete and Jerry's website) and have started taking small doses of that as well.
Marie, thanks for the post! May I ask if the supplements are a "trio" (like "Trio Nutrition" brand) or three different ones?
 
You can buy cold expressed canola oil and it's healthy. Not all seed oils are bad, it really depends on how they are processed.
 
The D3 is from Procaps Labs (but I will only buy from them when I can get it on sale and free shipping) K2 from Life Extension (but I take a very high dosage for bone health after reading about a Japanese study and learning that dose was prescribed for women in Japan with bone loss) - probably more than what you would want, and the Magnesium glycinate I get off of Amazon - a brand called naturebell. Once in a while I take a powered Potassium "NOW" brand, if I feel I need more electrolytes.
 
The D3 is from Procaps Labs (but I will only buy from them when I can get it on sale and free shipping) K2 from Life Extension (but I take a very high dosage for bone health after reading about a Japanese study and learning that dose was prescribed for women in Japan with bone loss) - probably more than what you would want, and the Magnesium glycinate I get off of Amazon - a brand called naturebell. Once in a while I take a powered Potassium "NOW" brand, if I feel I need more electrolytes.
Thanks!
 

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