I was recently viewing a conference given by Dr.
Jayson, a lecture he has given on the most recent Low-Carb cruise. His subject
was “out of the ordinary”, not considering the usual MACRONUTRIENTS such as
carbs, fat and protein which has been disputed so many time but, interestingly,
it was about the importance of getting adequate quantities of MICRONUTRIENTS, especially
in regard of low-carb diets.
“Food should be medicine” he says and most diseases
are a consequence of eating low-nutritious food items. He travelled the world
and studied diets of different population, all this to gather information why
some regions are in better health then other. Micronutrients deficiency is
epidemic in today’s world and will ALWAYS, especially in long-term, bring up
health issues.
He began his lecture by nicely pointing he is not recommending
any particular kind of diet, including Paleo type, as the point he wanted to
make is that for a diet to work, it is important it contains the most
nutritious dense food available. His theory is when one is not loosing weight, this
means his diet do not provide an adequate array of micronutrients: or it is not
provided by the food items or some of the said food items contain substances
preventing the absorption of the nutrients. He insists on the effect of “processing”
food on the quality of the said food and how marketing makes us believe they
are healthy.
For myself, the most interesting point from his
conference is what he said about eating fatty meat versus having lean meat.
In an ideal world, everyone should eat “organic
grass-fed” meat. Mainly to cut down on unwanted chemicals such as growth
hormones and antibiotics, which are given to the animals and, not the least of
all, not to change the “natural’ fat profile of the meat “nature” has created
for us.
As we know, animals fed a grain diet, instead of
grass, do end up with a muscle fat content 10 % higher. “That’s all good” you
could think if you follow an high fat low-carb diet. But not necessarily…
The reason being this extra 10% of fat content will
end up being made of “polyunsaturated high omega-6 fats”, the type of fats,
which are pro-inflammatory and is the basis of much pathology in the human
body.
The other big reason is unwanted chemicals in
animals feed usually end up accumulating in the animal fat tissues and, so, in
our fatty steaks…
Interestingly, Dr. Jayson advice anyone that cannot
find high quality grass fed meat, to look for “lean meat”. This is a big step
after repeating for so many years to everyone on Zero Carb they should look for
fatty cuts of meat…
This way, he says, there is less exposure to high omega-6
intake and fat-accumulated chemicals. Of course, he then suggests replacing the
missing fat of these lean cuts by “extra fat”, this time from clean sources
such as butter, lard or even coconut oil.
I think this can be very interesting for folks like
us with a Zero Carb approach. First, it can improve the quality of our food
items and so, reduce exposure to unwanted chemicals.
So if one purchase “grain fed regular meat”, he
suggests replacing chicken tights with chicken breast, choosing beef filet over
any other fatty cuts, ect…
I think his point of view is worth being
considered. Not that it has to be done all the time but it certainly can be an
option from time to time to create variety.
Anyway, if you have time have a look to his
conference. You will learn a lot about what can be considered “quality food” in
today’s world. This makes a nice change over recommendations about the suppose
“healthy diet” our authorities are pushing on us, and is a serious “eye-opener”.
Here is the link:
Denis