One Reason Restrictive Diets Are Appealing

I am over 2 weeks into following the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and I want to measure my adherence. I’ve run into a bit of a mental roadblock that is making a keto-diet seem appealing to me  . . . 

Low-Carb Diets Are Relatively Simple

Although I don’t think I would be able to follow a “keto” or low-carb diet for even one day because too many good foods are off limits, these restrictive diets are appealing in one way  . . . they are SIMPLE: restrict carbohydrates.  At the end of the day, you’ve adhered to the diet (more or less) if you have eaten fewer carbs.  Success. 

Initially you will probably lose weight because you are checking labels and more aware of what you are eating,  eating less junk, and possibly eating fewer calories (also, a large part of the quick initial weight loss on carbohydrate-restricted diets is water weight).  You will most likely attribute the weight loss to carbohydrate restriction.  The rules are easy (though adhering to the limited food choice over may not be sustainable . . . ).

In contrast, the Dietary Guidelines focus on dietary patterns and nutrient density – this makes measuring adherence trickier (though I find such a diet easier to follow).  In my first 2 weeks of  following the Guidelines I have found it pretty easy to align what I eat with the Guidelines’ five overarching goals – which has meant many delicious foods that fit into my lifestyle without many restrictions.

My Biggest Dietary Change on the Guidelines – Limiting Added Sugars

A main dietary change for me has been limiting added sugars.  I have a sweet tooth (and I am pretty active), and two or three treats a day was a norm for me.  I also love baking – but even more “healthful” treats made with whole grains and less sugar are still sweet.  So I am trying to limit myself to one sweet treat a day for this month to follow the Guidelines – I am not always successful.  My go-to lately is this banana bread to make use of bananas that spoil too quickly in the summer heat (with added chocolate. . . something I love)!

The key recommendations are more complex, but I am on the right track.  

Now It Gets Complicated 

But the Guidelines get more specific, and here’s where it gets more complicated to follow and assess how I’m doing.  Here is an example for the Mediterranean and Vegetarian-Style Eating Pattern.

How Am I Doing on These Goals?

The simplicity of tracking only carbohydrates suddenly seems appealing. Because measuring Guidelines cup and oz equivalents is no fun. Just exactly how many cup equivalents of vegetables (dark green? red & orange? starchy?), proteins, legumes, and oils were in that curry I just ate? I really don’t care. It was tasty and nourishing.

And this should be easy for me . . .

I have had several research roles developing materials to help research study participants estimate servings of various foods for several dietary pattern interventions including the WHEL Study (a long-term clinical trial investigating diet and prognosis in breast cancer survivors). Also, for my Master’s thesis I helped develop and validate a dietary self-monitoring tool to help study participants assess their fat, fiber, vegetable and fruit intakes. 

There is even a tool that boils down adherence to the Guidelines into one score (the Healthy Eating Index).  Overall, Americans are not following the Guidelines (though many who blame the obesity epidemic on the Guidelines ignore this data).

Macronutrients are Simple to Measure, but What Do They Tell Us?

I still plan to analyze my adherence to the specific Dietary Guidelines. But this process has made me realize that really following the Guidelines beyond the overarching goals is a lot more complicated than diets that focus on macronutrients (carbs, protein, or fats). To be fair, following the overarching goals has been relatively easy. 

Has the low-carb high-fat trend caused some to look at the Guidelines through this macronutrient lens while ignoring nutrient density and diet quality? 

How can anyone equate lentils to lollypops (high carb) and nuts & seeds to french fries (high fat)?

Focusing to much on macronutrients maybe this is why many people erroneously think that eating according to the Dietary Guidelines means eating a lot of carbohydrates (especially refined and high sugar). But my experience thus far has been that Dietary Guidelines critics do not really know the Guidelines.

Other Posts in This Series:

Carbs & the Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Quality Counts!

Fad Diet Month on Twitter

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Carbs & the Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Quality Counts!

I am following the Dietary Guidelines for Americans for 1 month.  You can read my earlier posts about this experience here.

Much of the criticism of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans centers around the recommendation of carbohydrate-containing foods.  Popular dogma is that carbohydrates make people fat, increase the risk for many diseases, and cause a variety of ailments.  Some of the most vocal proponents of these ideas include journalists Gary Taubes (Good Calories Bad Calories;  Why We Get Fat) and Nina Teicholz (Big Fat Surprise).

“Scientists have to reckon with the fact that the obesity epidemic basically began with the first dietary guidelines. You can’t look at that and not think we’ve done something terribly wrong” – Nina Teicholz

O.K., the first set of guidelines weren’t perfect, but have a look a the 7 guidelines below – how could these cause the obesity epidemic?

These guidelines show there has been longstanding and prominent advice to limit sugar and refined carbohydrates (though Americans have not followed this advice).

The current Guidelines emphasize carbohydrate quality and variety, with recommendations to obtain carbohydrates from sources like vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains and to limit sugars and refined grains.  Nonetheless, Teicholz remains a vocal critic of the current Dietary Guidelines.

CARBOHYDRATES Can Be Confusing, but that Doesn’t Make Them Bad

The type of carbohydrate you eat is likely more important than the amount. Carbohydrate critics tend to lump all carbohydrates into one category (somewhat like equating candy to broccoli). Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes are carbohydrate-rich foods, and affect the body differently than the refined and processed carbohydrates found in many popular foods.

Certain people may be more susceptible to the influences of carbohydrates on insulin (but again, eating lentils will influence the body differently than cake . . .). And how we metabolize carbohydrates has a lot to do with how active we are: though some studies do account for physical activity, even those participants categorized as “active” do not move much.

All Carbs Are Not Equal . . . 

The foods in the graphic below are all high in carbohydrates, but they have different effects on our bodies.  Overwhelming evidence shows that a health promoting dietary pattern should limit sugars and refined carbohydrates and that many people can benefit from including quality carbohydrates like vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.

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Fad Diet Month on Twitter

DAY 3 – Dietary Guidelines On the Road

I’m traveling, and having a hard time sticking to the Dietary Guidelines.

But it’s a good thing for my project! While my home food environment surrounds me with healthy (and tasty) choices, this is shedding light on the misinterpretation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

I”m trying to choose a Dietary Guidelines compliant breakfast at a hotel in Spokane, Washington after little sleep and long flight delays. It’s free and plentiful and looks typical of most hotel breakfasts likely geared towards the nation’s palate.

Here’s what’s on offer that will made a Dietary Guideline compliant day difficult:

Limit added sugars: muffins, pastries, sweetened instant oats, sweetened cereals, sweetened yogurt

Limit refined carbohydrates: white bagels, pancakes (a cool machine that pops them out)

Limit saturated fats: sausages

Limit sodium: scrambled eggs

I glance around the busy hotel breakfast room and popular items are muffins, pastries, sausages, and eggs. Based on the research, this is how most Americans eat, but it is not compliant with the Dietary Guidelines unless the rest of their day is full of nutrient-dense foods.

I finally settle on whole wheat bread, 2 hardboiled eggs, an orange, “diabetes friendly” low carb yogurt, mediocre coffee.

I don’t salt my hardboiled eggs because looking at a nutrient analysis of Day 1 and Day 2 my sodium intake has been above the recommendation. I put a ton of pepper on the eggs, but my tastebuds wanted salt. The artificially sweetened yogurt tastes pretty bad. I’m kind of grumpy from lack of sleep.

The orange was delicious!

DAY 2 – Dietary Guidelines in the Airport

Following the Guidelines today was a bit more challenging. Plenty of airport time and flight delays. . .

On these types of days I would typically cave get a sweet treat to go along with my coffee at Starbucks. But I know these things are calorie bombs with too much added sugar (so not Guideline compliant), so I resist.

August 8, 2018

Day 1 At a Glance

Here’s a brief report about my first day following the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  To see if I’m on track, I measured out everything I ate, analyzed the nutrient content of my meals. I also took pictures so you can see what these meals look like!  (They were delicious, by the way).

I won’t do this every day but will keep assessing periodically to account for the variety of foods that I like to eat, and see how they fit into the Dietary Guidelines.

Here’s what my diet looked like on DAY 1 . . .

BREAKFAST was coffee & 1% milk, a fresh peach, 1 c fresh blueberries, 3/4 cup Greek yogurt (0% fat – Guidelines recommend that dairy be low-fat), 1/4 cup homemade granola, and 1/4 c almonds.

LUNCH was 1/2 cup each of citrus chickpea salad, California quinoa salad, shredded beet salad, 2 cups arugula (dressing not needed because the other 3 salads have their own dressing), 1 oz. feta cheese, cherry tomatoes (from my garden!).

SNACK was coffee with homemade banana bread (whole-wheat flour and lower-fat/sugar  than most banana breads so in line with Guideline recommendations for reduced sugar and that half of grain intake be whole grain).

SUPPER was a night out with friends and included 2 big slices of Primavera pizza (fresh tomato, roasted red peppers, red onion, fresh basil, mozzarella).

Is Coffee Part of the Guidelines?

I was relieved to find out that moderate coffee consumption can be incorporated into a healthy eating pattern.  Here’s what the Guidelines have to say about coffee . . . 

5 Overarching Goals of the Dietary Guidelines

Here are the overarching goals of the Dietary Guidelines – this will guide my food choices.   I will delve into all of these in detail in future posts.

Dietary Patterns

The 2015-2020 version of the Guidelines focuses on dietary patterns – here is how the Guidelines defines these patterns:

An eating pattern is more than the sum of its parts; it represents the totality of what individuals habitually eat and drink, and these dietary components act synergistically in relation to health. As a result, the eating pattern may be more predictive of overall health status and disease risk than individual foods or nutrients. Thus, eating patterns, and their food and nutrient components, are at the core of the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

There are guidelines for Mediterranean and Vegetarian style patterns (in addition to the standard “American’ pattern).  Since this is in line with my personal preferences, I will follow recommendations from these patterns.

Why am doing this? See below . . . 

August 7, 2018

N-of-1 Nutrition

I’ve noticed a rising trend of broadcasting n-of-1 (“experiment” of one person) diets, especially among proponents of restrictive diets: people try eating a certain way and advertise it to their friends, on social media, blogs, etc., often attributing any change to the food component eliminated (“I cut out gluten and lost 5 lbs, you should try it!”) or food group restricted (I cut carbs and feel amazing!). 

It seems that we hear of benefits and positive stories more often than downsides . . .

Support for restrictive diets is quite strong in the online world.  Many vocal diet proponents put their diet style in their twitter bio as a sort of identity badge (e.g., LCHF; Keto; paleo; caveman, primal).

Three popular Nutrition personalities on Twitter have adopted popular fad diets (all variations of Low Carb High Fat (LCHF)/keto diets – the fad du jour) for 1 month.

  • Nutrition Wonk Katherine Pett,  MS in Nutrition Biochemistry and Epidemiology and a registered dietitian and blogger at NutritionWonk.com is following a LCHF /keto diet. Katherine also summarizes nutrition news in her TWIN.
  • Kevin Klatt recent PhD in Nutritional Sciences from Cornell University,  is following a Vegetarian LCHF diet.
  • Alan Levinovitz who explores Nutrition issues from a religion/philosophy/science perspective (author of The Gluten Lie) is following the Carnivore Diet.  He followed the Carnivore diet for 13 days and provides tremendous insight into the experience here. 

Evidence from n=1 experiments is quite limited and fraught with bias, so I’m excited to see how they will share their experience from a science-based perspective. 

This is important, because when you restrict a food/food group it’s important to know what you are eating instead. For example, someone who wants to reduce the fat in their diet can (1) reduce fat and eat more calories from vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and lean proteins, or (2) reduce fat and eat more calories from refined carbohydrates and sugars. The ratios of carbohydrates, fats, proteins certainly don’t tell the whole story. Also, do people simply eat less/fewer calories and lose weight because their diet is so restrictive? Are they simply paying more attention to what they are eating and cutting out overly processed foods as well as evil carbohydrates?

READ  Healthy or Hype? Protein Powder

I’m Joining In!

Most proponents of keto/LCHF diets single out carbohydrates as being the source of overweight and many other ailments.  And it’s hard to find a keto or low-carb diet proponent who doesn’t tell you that the government Dietary Guidelines are to blame for the obesity epidemic and many other illnesses. Headlines such as these are common:

  • More Evidence That Everything the Government Teaches Us About Eating Is Wrong
  • The Government’s Bad Diet Advice
  • Why Dietary Guidelines are So Wrong, So Often
  • Here’s What’s Wrong with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines
  • The Sugar Conspiracy

Dietary Guidelines for Americans

So, in the name of balance, I will eat according to the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans, show you what this type of diet looks like, and provide more information on the Guidelines (since the interpretation of these Guidelines varies quite a bit).

Will I get fat and sick? Follow along and see on  this website or my twitter account.

You can Find the Current Dietary Guidelines for Americans at this link.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Banana Pancakes (high protein)

These wholesome  ingredients come together, somewhat surprisingly, to deliver delicious pancakes. A bonus (you might have guessed from the ingredients) is that these pancakes make a pretty healthy breakfast or snack that can provide the protein that most people lack in their morning meal.

The nutrition profile is much better than traditional pancakes, which are typically high in refined carbohydrates even before the syrup is poured on . . .

Cottage cheese and eggs provide a boost in protein, and the carbohydrate sources (oats and bananas) are a better choice than white flour, because like most whole grains and fruit, they offer a host of other important nutrients.

READ  How Much Protein Do You Need?

Ingredients

  • 2 cups rolled oats (large or 1-minute variety)
  • 2 medium bananas
  • 1 cup cottage cheese (I used 1%)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 tsp. baking powder

Optional flavorings: 1 tsp. vanilla and/or 1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions

  1. Place oats in blender and blend for 30 seconds.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients, and blend for about another 30 seconds until ingredients are mixed.
  3. Preheat a large pan or griddle over medium heat.  Grease with a little butter or oil (put on a paper towel to spread over the surface of the pan).
  4. For each pancake, drop about ¼ cup of the batter onto the pan (if it’s thick and doesn’t make a nice circle, spread it out with a spoon until it does). Cook without disturbing until you see bubbles form on the top surface and the bottom is golden brown (you can take a peek underneath). Flip the pancake over and cook until other side is golden brown.
  5. Transfer pancakes to a wire rack and put in a warm oven while you cook the rest of the batter.

These are terrific topped with berries, bananas, and maple syrup.

READ  6 Healthy Morning Meals: The Science Behind Breakfast

Nutrition Notes

  • Oats are well-know for their cholesterol lowering properties, and recent research shows that they contain bioactive phytochemicals with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that might help decrease chronic inflammation that can lead to disease.
  • Bananas are rich in fiber, and an excellent source of potassium, an essential mineral that most people don’t get enough of in their diets. Bananas have been compared to sports drinks during exercise, and were found superior to other carbs in terms of decreasing exercise-induced inflammation. The authors chose bananas because of their “unique mixture of carbohydrates, nutrients, and antioxidants that may provide good nutrition support during prolonged and intensive exercise.”
  • Cottage Cheese is a good source of protein and available in low-fat versions, which reduces saturated fat and calories.
  • The importance of protein in the morning. Most people don’t consume enough protein in the morning, even though they are getting enough total protein by the end of the day.  New research shows that protein distribution throughout the day is important: your body needs about 20 to 30 grams of protein at a time for muscle repair and muscle building processes, and many people fall short of this at breakfast – but eat two to three times the amount they need at dinner (and more than 25 g protein at a time doesn’t build or repair more muscle). This distribution is especially important for athletes and older individuals who require more protein overall.  You can find out more about your protein needs in this article.

Yield: Makes TWELVE pancakes (4 servings)

Nutrition per serving

(1 serving = 3 pancakes)

  • 165 calories
  • 18 g protein
  • 30 g carbohydrate
  • 8 g fat (2.3 g sat fat)
  • 188 mg cholesterol
  • 4 g fiber
  • 544 mg sodium
  • 118 mg potassium
  • 19 % RDI

 

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