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| Are you hyper focusing on the nutrients that are 'safe' to eat? |
Processed foods are bad,
toxic even. Breads, even so-called wheat breads, must be avoided. Other
starches aren’t great for you either—but those whole grains seem a little
better. And forget sugar, because you know all the horror stories about what
sugar does. Best to avoid it all; it’s
much safer that way.
That’s what Dave thinks, and
he’s not alone. He's an underweight young man, unhealthily thin. Yes, most
sources of carbs are a problem for him. In fact, most fats are also a problem
for him. He selects only foods he perceives as super-foods—super healthy
choices chock full of nutrients; he’s not contaminating his body with any of
that other junk. He reads a lot, but never the full research paper, because, I
mean, who does? Anyway, if it’s in print, then it must be true, right?
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| Start to look at the big picture. |
No, not correct. Even all the
hype about sugar and its negative impact on health pulls from studies showing
high intakes—25% of total calories, to be specific. That’s a lot of sugar. And
that’s quite different than including a couple of mint Milanos or Lindt
chocolates for instance, in the midst of a healthy, balanced diet. But why all
the fuss, you ask? Who needs processed carbs anyway?
An RDA for chocolates?
It’s like this. There’s no
daily requirement for processed foods—that’s for certain. But creating long
lists of foods to avoid creates another set of health issues, both mental and
physical. Deprivation, for one, creates rebound overeating, so setting rigid rules
about all the foods you can’t eat becomes an issue. Further, avoiding large
categories of foods as Dave does leaves fewer fuel sources and nutrients to
meet your needs. A diet of vegetables and lean protein and a bit of fruit will
likely leave you low energy—carbohydrate stores are our go-to for fuel; yes
there’s a reason why Marathoners have a pasta dinner before their event. Food rules are challenging to adhere to and
lead to increased preoccupation with food and eating.
It’s worse if your needs are
high, like if you are in the process of restoring weight from a low place.
Truly, metabolic rate dramatically increases to well above what others of the
same height (but who weren’t restricting and now re-feeding) experience. So the
feeling of fatigue may result, and if you’re wondering why your strength is
lost, this could be why. Or if you are a growing teen, restricting what you can
eat may add to your problems—it’s challenging to meet your needs to restore
normal growth when there’s lots you choose not to eat.
Burn, baby burn
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| Take a step back and try to look at your assumptions a bit differently. |
It's hard to negotiate with
irrational thoughts. And the media's messages villainizing most anything that
tastes good hardly help. So I’ll turn to my fireplace analogy to help him (and
you) see carbs as just another fuel.
Let's say you have a
fireplace. You could burn logs of pine or oak or maple. Burning each log type
generates heat, turns to ashes in the end, regardless of which you started
with.
Should it matter to you which
type of log or fuel you use? Well you might have a preference for the scent of
pine or maple, let's say. But from a fuel standpoint, it doesn't much matter.
That is, as long as the total amount of wood is equivalent. It's just like food
and its building blocks. You could burn carbs or protein or fats that you eat
and yield energy—our heat equivalent here. And as long as the total amount of
fuel or calories is the same, your body hardly cares where the fuel source came
from—from a weight standpoint. You may have a preference for the taste of
chicken or of nuts, and some foods may be more satiating (think whole grains or
balanced meals including protein); and a varied diet will help meet your
nutrient needs over time. But if the calories are the same, they will generate
about the same amount of energy.
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| That's sweetened chai tea with real milk to go with our carb-based snack. |
But substitute some twigs and
the fire dies down fast. Rice cakes, for instance, just won't sustain the
energy. You could swap newspaper for the logs. But you'd need a ton of it to
heat your house in winter. Yes, just like if you chose only light products or
large volume but low calorie dense foods like broths or salads with little
substance to them.
So what can I do now?
Stoke your fire with items
that are pleasant. I love the scent of burning pine, personally, and I enjoy a
good piece of pastry when I need the fuel. There are times those whole grains
are just what I'm yearning, and they'll likely take a bit more time to process,
and thus burn, than just white rice. But brown sushi just doesn't seem right. And favoring protein and eating lots of it
simply because you heard it’s good for you is no advantage for long-term weight
management.
A healthy body requires getting
enough. Not just total calories, but satisfaction, from a wide range of foods
and nutrients. Isn’t it time you free yourself from the unnecessary food rules?
