From: Erik Sayle (lists@thecri.org)
Date: Sat Apr 26 2003 - 20:30:29 MDT
Thought i would add another diet, or rather, less of a diet, and more of a
common sense eating rules. Dr. Bob Arnot, who i think was actually
broadcasting from Iraq recently, is actually a medical correspondent. He
wrote 2 books I have read, both good. In particular his diet book really
helped me ~4 years ago and ever since.
In particular, he does not really advocate any radical answers, he just sort
of puts together some common sense things that our grandparents probably
knew, but that Marketing people and science journalists, have unprogrammed.
Control your blood sugar level, keep it pretty level by NOT eating many
carbs like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc. Do eat legumes like beans (but
not too quickly or flatulence!). Lots of fiber, especially soluble fiber.
Eating the way they eat in some third world countries is good, processed
food is bad. Unprocessed food is harder in general, you chew it longer, it
fills you up more, it digests slower, staying in your digestive tract
longer. Since it digests slowly, it does not make you blood sugar spike, and
therefore your insulin does not kick in, so you feel energetis all the time.
The beauty is that this is very do-able. It does not require really unique
foods or crazy diets that make you crave things and feel hungry or weird. It
is mostly common sense, once you read it, you understand why Americans are
so obese, everything is processed and carbo loaded. I need to re read it
again as I have forgot some of the things he says, but every time I eat, I
try to make small adjustments. I add a little oat bran to cereals, I get
cereals with fiber or add oat bran to them. I am not afraid of meat, in fact
i love meat, and some fat too. These are not too bad. I eat more vegetables
all the time. I add soybeans to my soups or other things. I have many frozen
vegetables, which are very healthy as they are often frozen in the field,
that I add to many things I cook.
The only downside, and I alluded to it iearlier is beans. They are an
important aspect of this diet. I turned my friend on to this book a few
years ago. She read it, and ate a buncha beans everyday for a couple days
then went on a 3 day yoga retreat. When she came back on Monday i saw her
and she passed gas. BAD gas - noxious fumes for sure. evil. worst in the
world. She said all weekend she was passing gas in yoga poses. Silent
killers. It must have been brutal. I imagine being all relaxed and streched
out and smelling those bombs. She has stinky gas for a couple months but in
general it has gotten much better as she has bred the bacteria to digest
that. There is also beano, a gas stopper you can take with meals if that is
a problem. I laugh to myself all the time over that one.
I think news media and science is to blame for much of this. My grandparents
lived to 90+ years, they ate gruel, and knew it was good. Scientists said
pasta is good for a runners diet, journalists publicized this. Everybody
started eating pasta. Pasta does not exist in nautre! But anyways, that is
another story.
Another good book, by the way is Dr. Dean Edell's book Eat Drink and be
Merry. He also advocates moderation and such. Dr. Dean should run for
president, he has a radio show that is very good and pragmatic.
I cannot say much about the Atkins diet, except i like meat and fat, it
sates me for long periods of time. But i think too much meat is bad, we have
flat molars designed for hard grains. And sharp teeth for ripping meat. But
we do not have a little hole for spagetti!
Erik Sayle
Dr.Bob Arnot's Revolutionary Weight Control Program for Men and Women
and
Dr. Bob Arnot's Guide to Turning Back the Clock
and
Eat, Drink, & Be Merry : America's Doctor Tells You Why the Health Experts
Are Wrong
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