September Newsletter 2018
Our September acupuncture special… is too good to miss. Purchase two acupuncture treatments and get the third one for free! All three sessions must be used within the month of September.
Ketosis dieting… seems to be the latest trend in weight loss. Sometimes at the end of summer, people get on the scale and realize they indulged in a little too much ice cream and barbeque. This newsletter was written with this in mind. As trending diets go, often the ‘new diet’ is just a variation on an ‘old diet’ idea. The latest two trends in diets I have heard about recently are quite extreme. This month I will review the “Fasting Mimicking Diet” (FMD) and the “Whole30 Diet”. In both cases, the diet is a special way of eating that is not designed for weight loss, but to reset the mind/stomach connection. These diets may even correct negative physical responses caused by an unknown sensitivity to certain foods. You might lose a couple of pounds, but that is not the goal. Both involve trying to get the body to go into ketosis (to burn fat, not lean muscle).
The Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD): Fasting has been a part of health restoring practices for a millennium, maybe more. Even the word breakfast is really two words, break and fast. It was recognized that people don’t eat all night and ‘fast’ until eating in the morning. Fasting is a very poorly named activity because when you refrain from eating even for a day, time does NOT go fast – it slows down, or at least it feels that way.
A couple of years ago, Valter Longo did research with USC to study the effects of not eating for five days and drinking only water, compared to, eating very little food, and only foods that are so low in glucose and calories that the body goes into ketosis or “fat-burning” mode to do daily living. Not surprisingly, it was very difficult to get people to even try a water-only fast. The Fast Mimicking diet had far better success with test subjects actually completing the five days. It is now touted to be the fastest way to lose fat (especially belly fat). The FMD diet also claims to trigger stem cell-based renewal and optimize cellular function and cellular auto phage (cleaning up aging and damaged cells). FMD also claims to optimize performance in the form of improved muscle function, increased mental focus and clarity, and improved energy levels in general. For metabolic health, it helps maintain healthy levels of blood glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure. It seems to reduce the markers of inflammation which benefits overall wellness. According to the Longevity Institute, “It can rejuvenate multiple organs to optimize health & provide anti-aging benefits” (Longevity).
FMD is designed to attain fasting-like effects, while providing micronutrient nourishment (vitamins & minerals) and minimizing the burden of fasting. The goal is slight starvation which is healthy from time to time. It gives your digestion system a rest. Valter Long patented the idea and sells a whole ‘kit’ to guide you through the 5 days.
For those who like DIY, here is what I found:
Day One: eat 54% of what should be normal calorie intake. For men, this is about 1,090 calories. Calorie ratios should be 10% plant protein, 56% fat, and 31% carbohydrates. So, 500 kcal from vegetables like broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, pumpkin, mushrooms and 500 kcal from healthy proteins and fats (25 grams of protein from nuts). Take 1 multivitamin/mineral, 1 Omega 3/6, and drink sugarless teas, preferably herbal.
Days Two thru Five: eat 800 calories, consisting of 9% plant protein, 44% healthy fats, and 47% carbohydrates. And again, the proportions are 50% vegetable and 50% healthy fats. Teas and supplement should be the same as on Day 1. All five days you are allowed to have two cups of black coffee, chamomile tea, vegetable broth and water. Raw green leafy vegetables are also allowed in any quantity, but just plain - without oil, dressing, or sweeteners of any kind. This is to reset your taste buds.
The oddest version of this diet that I found was to satisfy the calorie percentages by eating one avocado with 2 tablespoons of green vegetable powder for breakfast and dinner. California avocados are smaller, so eat 1 ½ for each meal.
The FMD timeline is five days on, twenty-five days of ‘normal’ eating, then another five days of FMD. I’ve never tried it and I doubt I could do it. Those who have done it say they don’t go back to eating the same once it’s over. It resets their eating habits. Unless you have kidney problems, I don’t see any harm in trying this diet. BUT DRINK PLENTY OF WATER!!
The WHOLE30 Diet is described as a diet with emphasis on whole foods; however, I don’t think it comes close. Although credit for creating this diet is given to Melissa Hartwig, it is actually another version of the elimination diet, with a different name. It is a simple way to eliminate foods that are typically causing food sensitivities in people for thirty days, and then add those food groups back in, one at a time to test for sensitivities to those foods.
Following is the Whole30 ‘can’t eat list”.
1) No dairy, such as cheese, cow milk, yogurt, cream, kefir, or butter (except ghee, a clarified butter). 2) No grains, like rice, quinoa, corn, wheat, rye, millet, sorghum, amaranth, bulgur, buckwheat, or even sprouted grains. 3) No alcohol, not even for cooking. 4) No sugar, no honey, maple syrup, agave, or any artificial sweeteners. 5) No legumes, beans, tofu, soy sauce, miso, edamame, chickpeas, peas, lentils, or peanuts. 6) No additives, no carrageenan, MSG, or sulfites. 7) No junk food. Not even junk food you could make from scratch. The reason for the “don’t” list is to reset your mind/habits of how you think about food.
Now, here’s the Whole30 ‘CAN eat list”. 1) Vegetables, including potatoes, to your heart’s content. 2) Fruits in moderation. Remember, you’re trying to limit sugar intake. 3) Unprocessed meats and eggs. 4) Nuts and seeds (except peanuts). 5) Seafood.
6) Oils and ghee. 7) Black coffee (or carrageenan-free almond milk can be added).
WHOLE30 is a ‘reset diet’ in which you are told not to weigh yourself for thirty days. It’s a plan to clean up your eating habits. Some people like to start such things as a New Year’s resolution. You will probably work through some personal, mental and emotional food associations during those thirty days. You don’t count calories or carbohydrates. When re-introducing foods, I would recommend a different approach. Check to see if consuming dairy gives you a stomach ache, constipation, gas, skin problems, sinus troubles, or aching joints. If not, then add grains that don’t have gluten like rice, corn, and gluten free oats. Then try other grains. You should separate the foods you are adding back in by a week.
The benefits of WHOLE30 are very similar to FMD. People report increased energy, improved mental clarity, and a better ability to manage emotional stress. Also, skin clears up, belly fat decreases, less bloating, less joint pain, decreased headaches (intensity and/or frequency), improved sleep, and more effective workouts due to increased energy. It can change your taste buds and increase self-confidence in the ability to refuse foods you think are not good for you. It gets rid of the urge to eat everything in sight. You realize you don’t need alcohol to socialize. You can discover ‘trigger foods’ or foods that induce cravings, and discover foods that inflame, foods that make you ache, or make your skin break out.
If you want to try either one, first, you really need to research them further for yourself; this is just intended to be a quick overview. There are several elimination diets out there. Almost all of the claims about them are subjective. Some clinical research was done on the FMD and only some of the claims were verified.
Ketosis dieting… seems to be the latest trend in weight loss. Sometimes at the end of summer, people get on the scale and realize they indulged in a little too much ice cream and barbeque. This newsletter was written with this in mind. As trending diets go, often the ‘new diet’ is just a variation on an ‘old diet’ idea. The latest two trends in diets I have heard about recently are quite extreme. This month I will review the “Fasting Mimicking Diet” (FMD) and the “Whole30 Diet”. In both cases, the diet is a special way of eating that is not designed for weight loss, but to reset the mind/stomach connection. These diets may even correct negative physical responses caused by an unknown sensitivity to certain foods. You might lose a couple of pounds, but that is not the goal. Both involve trying to get the body to go into ketosis (to burn fat, not lean muscle).
The Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD): Fasting has been a part of health restoring practices for a millennium, maybe more. Even the word breakfast is really two words, break and fast. It was recognized that people don’t eat all night and ‘fast’ until eating in the morning. Fasting is a very poorly named activity because when you refrain from eating even for a day, time does NOT go fast – it slows down, or at least it feels that way.
A couple of years ago, Valter Longo did research with USC to study the effects of not eating for five days and drinking only water, compared to, eating very little food, and only foods that are so low in glucose and calories that the body goes into ketosis or “fat-burning” mode to do daily living. Not surprisingly, it was very difficult to get people to even try a water-only fast. The Fast Mimicking diet had far better success with test subjects actually completing the five days. It is now touted to be the fastest way to lose fat (especially belly fat). The FMD diet also claims to trigger stem cell-based renewal and optimize cellular function and cellular auto phage (cleaning up aging and damaged cells). FMD also claims to optimize performance in the form of improved muscle function, increased mental focus and clarity, and improved energy levels in general. For metabolic health, it helps maintain healthy levels of blood glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure. It seems to reduce the markers of inflammation which benefits overall wellness. According to the Longevity Institute, “It can rejuvenate multiple organs to optimize health & provide anti-aging benefits” (Longevity).
FMD is designed to attain fasting-like effects, while providing micronutrient nourishment (vitamins & minerals) and minimizing the burden of fasting. The goal is slight starvation which is healthy from time to time. It gives your digestion system a rest. Valter Long patented the idea and sells a whole ‘kit’ to guide you through the 5 days.
For those who like DIY, here is what I found:
Day One: eat 54% of what should be normal calorie intake. For men, this is about 1,090 calories. Calorie ratios should be 10% plant protein, 56% fat, and 31% carbohydrates. So, 500 kcal from vegetables like broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, pumpkin, mushrooms and 500 kcal from healthy proteins and fats (25 grams of protein from nuts). Take 1 multivitamin/mineral, 1 Omega 3/6, and drink sugarless teas, preferably herbal.
Days Two thru Five: eat 800 calories, consisting of 9% plant protein, 44% healthy fats, and 47% carbohydrates. And again, the proportions are 50% vegetable and 50% healthy fats. Teas and supplement should be the same as on Day 1. All five days you are allowed to have two cups of black coffee, chamomile tea, vegetable broth and water. Raw green leafy vegetables are also allowed in any quantity, but just plain - without oil, dressing, or sweeteners of any kind. This is to reset your taste buds.
The oddest version of this diet that I found was to satisfy the calorie percentages by eating one avocado with 2 tablespoons of green vegetable powder for breakfast and dinner. California avocados are smaller, so eat 1 ½ for each meal.
The FMD timeline is five days on, twenty-five days of ‘normal’ eating, then another five days of FMD. I’ve never tried it and I doubt I could do it. Those who have done it say they don’t go back to eating the same once it’s over. It resets their eating habits. Unless you have kidney problems, I don’t see any harm in trying this diet. BUT DRINK PLENTY OF WATER!!
The WHOLE30 Diet is described as a diet with emphasis on whole foods; however, I don’t think it comes close. Although credit for creating this diet is given to Melissa Hartwig, it is actually another version of the elimination diet, with a different name. It is a simple way to eliminate foods that are typically causing food sensitivities in people for thirty days, and then add those food groups back in, one at a time to test for sensitivities to those foods.
Following is the Whole30 ‘can’t eat list”.
1) No dairy, such as cheese, cow milk, yogurt, cream, kefir, or butter (except ghee, a clarified butter). 2) No grains, like rice, quinoa, corn, wheat, rye, millet, sorghum, amaranth, bulgur, buckwheat, or even sprouted grains. 3) No alcohol, not even for cooking. 4) No sugar, no honey, maple syrup, agave, or any artificial sweeteners. 5) No legumes, beans, tofu, soy sauce, miso, edamame, chickpeas, peas, lentils, or peanuts. 6) No additives, no carrageenan, MSG, or sulfites. 7) No junk food. Not even junk food you could make from scratch. The reason for the “don’t” list is to reset your mind/habits of how you think about food.
Now, here’s the Whole30 ‘CAN eat list”. 1) Vegetables, including potatoes, to your heart’s content. 2) Fruits in moderation. Remember, you’re trying to limit sugar intake. 3) Unprocessed meats and eggs. 4) Nuts and seeds (except peanuts). 5) Seafood.
6) Oils and ghee. 7) Black coffee (or carrageenan-free almond milk can be added).
WHOLE30 is a ‘reset diet’ in which you are told not to weigh yourself for thirty days. It’s a plan to clean up your eating habits. Some people like to start such things as a New Year’s resolution. You will probably work through some personal, mental and emotional food associations during those thirty days. You don’t count calories or carbohydrates. When re-introducing foods, I would recommend a different approach. Check to see if consuming dairy gives you a stomach ache, constipation, gas, skin problems, sinus troubles, or aching joints. If not, then add grains that don’t have gluten like rice, corn, and gluten free oats. Then try other grains. You should separate the foods you are adding back in by a week.
The benefits of WHOLE30 are very similar to FMD. People report increased energy, improved mental clarity, and a better ability to manage emotional stress. Also, skin clears up, belly fat decreases, less bloating, less joint pain, decreased headaches (intensity and/or frequency), improved sleep, and more effective workouts due to increased energy. It can change your taste buds and increase self-confidence in the ability to refuse foods you think are not good for you. It gets rid of the urge to eat everything in sight. You realize you don’t need alcohol to socialize. You can discover ‘trigger foods’ or foods that induce cravings, and discover foods that inflame, foods that make you ache, or make your skin break out.
If you want to try either one, first, you really need to research them further for yourself; this is just intended to be a quick overview. There are several elimination diets out there. Almost all of the claims about them are subjective. Some clinical research was done on the FMD and only some of the claims were verified.