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Note to readers: This post was written in September of 2012. PLEASE do not ask me why I eat ‘this’ or why I don’t eat ‘that’ — as what is shown here does not necessarily reflect what or how I eat today (or more importantly, how you should eat). My diet evolves constantly, due to my constant tweaking and self-experimentation. Over time, I’ll share it here and there, but what I eat is not at all the focus of this blog. I ask that you refrains for asking questions about what I eat your comments.
For reasons I don’t fully understand the most read post on this blog is one I wrote very quickly and with very little thought. I wrote it in response to a question I’m asked all the time, “What do you actually eat?” The post, aptly titled, What I actually eat, has more than twice the traffic of the next three most read posts combined. Go figure.
After a full year in “strict” (i.e., no “cheat” days) nutritional ketosis I wanted to experiment with other eating patterns. I had been reading about intermittent fasting (IF), and had a few discussions and exchanges with Mark Sisson and Robb Wolf about it. Though I don’t know Brad Pilon or Martin Berkhan personally, I’d also read a few interesting things they had written.
Why the change?
My curiosity was sufficiently piqued to break a golden rule – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
I was very happy after a year of nutritional ketosis, but I did wonder if I could improve on a few things. For starters, as my cycling season was about to ramp up, I wondered what it would be like to weigh 75 kg (165 pounds) instead of my steady-state weight of about 78 kg (172 pounds). I know 3 kg does not sound like a lot, but it can make a huge difference when riding up Mount Palomar, assuming one can preserve power output. I also liked the idea of not spending so much time eating. As you probably know, I’m pretty obsessive about how I utilize the 168 hours in each week and resent anything that takes me away from my family, my work, and my training. (This includes sleep, which I wish I could figure out a way to thrive without.)
In the end, I think Mark Sisson finally just egged me on enough to agree to at least give it try – even just one day per week. And with that, I embarked on the next phase of my nutritional odyssey.
I decided, in early May, to start with the following protocol: one meal per 24 hours, twice a week. On the other 5 days I consumed my usual keto-diet. On the two IF days I would just eat one meal at around dinner time. I still consumed normal amounts of liquids (water, coffee, tea) and supplements (see list below), with one exception – on fasting days I doubled the amount of sodium I supplemented via bouillon from 2 gm per day to 4 gm per day.
Like all nutritional changes, this one took some getting used to. Because I exercise in the mornings, on fasting days I would get pretty hungry by about 10 or 11 am. Interestingly, though, by about 2 pm, as my blood glucose levels would be between 60 and 70 mg/dL, I would start to feel completely fine. In fact, by about 5 or 6 pm, just before eating my meal, I found I wasn’t really hungry. This may have been due to the fact that my B-OHB levels were usually above 3 mM by this time of day.
Why do I call it “IFIK?”
Not surprisingly, after eating 100 gm of protein and 40 gm of carbohydrates in one sitting, my B-OHB levels would fall, often below 0.5 mM, the practical threshold of nutritional ketosis. Usually within 24 hours I’d be back to my normal levels, generally between about 1 and 2 mM. But, the cycling in and out of ketosis was new to me, hence the phrase “intermittent fasting, intermittent ketosis,” or “IFIK.” I guess you can see why I didn’t end up in marketing – “if-ik” doesn’t really have a nice ring to it.
The purpose of this post is not to provide a detailed overview of IF or ketosis, but rather to address the following common questions I often get asked in response to the original post on what I ate:
- Question: Peter, why do you eat so much dairy? Answer: I don’t. That was a year ago. I did eat a lot of dairy, and seemed to tolerate it quite well. I realize that’s not true for everyone. Regardless, I seem to eat much less today.
- Question: Peter, is ketosis for everyone? Answer: Of course not. Besides oxygen and water, few things are.
- Question: Peter, why do you eat so much meat? Answer: I don’t. In fact, some days I don’t eat any. Other days I do. I obviously don’t think there is anything harmful with eating meat (read this post for a refresher), but I’m quite happy eating lots of non-meat items, too.
- Question: Peter, how can anyone possibly do anything athletic without carb loading? Answer: It’s easy. Anyone can do it, if they are just patient and let their body adapt.
- Question: Peter, you eat like a freak (ok, not really a question!) Response: And your point is?
What happened after several months of IFIK?
Interestingly, I did lose weight. After briefly hitting 163 to 164 pounds, I settled out at where I am right now, about 165 to 166 pounds, right at my 75 kg target. I have not yet repeated a DEXA scan to confirm, but I suspect I lost a bit of muscle, along with more fat, probably at about a 1:2 ratio. My last DEXA measured a body fat of about 9%, and I suspect I’m about the same, though my waist is half an inch smaller than when I started, so I may be closer to 8%.
Why do I think this happened?
In the IF community there are really two (maybe more) theories on why I lost weight. I won’t describe them here in any detail, but will do so in subsequent posts. One hypothesis is that I’m simply consuming fewer of the same high quality calories than I did before. The other hypothesis is that the physiologic response to IF (rather than the response to prolonged fasting) is to increase my REE during the period of IF, possibly through the up- and or down-regulation of various hormones. Of course, it could be a combination of these, or something entirely different, too.
Drumroll….
Before getting to the part that folks who are still reading probably care about, let me point out a few differences between what I eat today and what I ate a year ago.
- I consume, on average, fewer calories per day. I am also lighter, and we know TEE varies with body mass, so it’s not surprising that most days I am not eating over 4,000 kcal, as I used to. Of course, one might argue my body has become more metabolically efficient at utilizing substrate, and so my REE is lower than it was a year ago. Finally, I do exercise less than last year. Hence, there are many explanations for this difference.
- I consume less dairy. Don’t read too much into this. There is nothing deliberate about it, just an observation of my behavior.
- I consume less meat of all varieties. Again, don’t read too much into this. I have no explanation except that I seem to crave it in lower amounts and less frequently.
- I consume more overall carbohydrates, though still virtually zero sugar or refined carbohydrates. Most of this additional carbohydrate is in the form of nuts and SuperStarch.
- I consume virtually zero sugar substitutes, except for the little bit in my SuperStarch and protein powder (sucralose). I also drink, at most, about one diet soda per month.
- I spend less money on food.
- I spend less time eating.
- Currently I only eat three meals per day about once a week. I eat two meals per day probably 4 times per week, and one meal per day twice per week.
To calculate the nutritional content of my intake I use a piece of software called Nutritionist Pro, which is not for the faint of heart. It’s one step removed from a DOS prompt. In addition to costing about $600 a year, it’s not exactly user-friendly. I’d probably describe it as “user-hostile,” actually. But, it’s really accurate and has a database that is unrivaled. The reports, once you learn how to generate them, are very good, also.
Three consecutive days of representative eating
Keep in mind, I don’t count my calories or weigh my food normally. I do it periodically, such as at this time, when I’m curious as to what I’m actually eating. I believe I’m able to do so without eliciting the Hawthorne Effect, but obviously one can never be positive.
Tuesday
- 7 am — morning workout – flat intervals on bike (75 minutes).
- 1 pm – Nicoise salad:2 cup butterhead lettuce, 1 tomato, 10 black olives, 8 oz tuna steak, 1 hard boiled egg, 0.5 cup red onion, 2 oz lemon juice, 4 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp mustard.
- 7 pm – Chicken salad with nuts:2 cup romaine lettuce, 1 tomato, 0.5 cup cucumber, 2 oz cashews, 2 oz walnuts, 8 oz chicken breast, 6 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar.
Daily totals:
Carbohydrate – 89 gm
Protein – 131 gm
Fat – 218 gm (about 15% SFA, 70% MUFA, 15% PUFA)
Calories – 2,900
Wednesday
- 6 am — morning workout – high intensity dry land (90 minutes).
- 3 pm – The “Peter Kaufman shake” (named after my good friend, Peter Kaufman at Generation UCAN, who hooked me up with the recipe):
4 oz heavy cream, 8 oz zero-sugar almond milk, 1 pack chocolate protein SuperStarch, 2 tablespoons almond butter, 8 gm additional glutamine, 1 tray of ice cubes (blended to smoothie consistency). - 7 pm – Chicken-nut omelet:
4 eggs, 0.5 avocado, 3.5 oz cheddar, 3 oz red onion, 2 oz walnuts, 2 oz cashews, 4.5 oz chicken thigh, 2 tbsp butter
Daily totals:
Carbohydrate – 60 gm (30 gm of which is SuperStarch)
Protein – 151 gm
Fat – 226 gm (about 40% SFA, 35% MUFA, 25% PUFA)
Calories – 2,800
Thursday
- 7 am — morning workout – hill intervals on bike (75 minutes).
- 5 pm – Attia super salad:
1.5 cup romaine lettuce, 0.5 cup cucumber, 0.25 cup mushroom, 1 tomato, 3 oz sliced T-bone steak, 2 oz cashews, 2 oz peanuts, 2 oz macadamia nuts, 8 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar. - Between 6 and 8 pm – after-dinner snack consisting of:
3 oz cashews, 1 oz almonds, 2 oz peanuts, 1 oz macadamia nuts, 2 cups of coffee with a total of 6 tbsp heavy cream.
Daily totals:
Carbohydrate – 94 gm
Protein – 93 gm
Fat – 369 gm (about 20% SFA, 65% MUFA, 15% PUFA)
Calories – 3,800
My daily supplements
Note: I am only listing the products I use, and not trying to convince you that my brand of vitamin D is superior to another. If I feel strongly about a product, I note it. But this is not a product pitch. I don’t make one penny off you buying any of these products.
Fish oil
1 tablespoon of Carlson’s Very Finest Fish Oil, providing 2,400 mg EPA and 1,500 mg DHA. I do feel this is a superior product and I’ve had detailed toxicology analytics conducted on the product to confirm the absence of lead, arsenic, mercury, and other toxins.
Vitamin D
5,000 IU D3 in gel capsule, by NOW.
Magnesium
400 mg magnesium oxide by Nature Made.
Sodium
2,000 mg in the form of bouillon, typically by Knorr.
MCT oil
Either 2 or 3 tablespoons, depending on activity level, by NOW.
Probiotic
2 capsules of Mark Sisson’s Primal Flora, providing 60 billion CFU. The reason I use Mark’s product is because I know and trust him, and I know how much homework he did in formulating this product.
One of the topics I’m currently getting steeped in is gut biota, and I’m hanging out a lot with a San Diego expert on the topic, UCSD Professor Larry Smarr, who has repeatedly sequenced his entire gut biome, with the help of Craig Venter at Synthetic Genomics and others at MIT. As Larry points out, the challenge of “moving the needle” with probiotics is that they only provide the aerobic bacteria while, of course, most of our gut biome is anaerobic. Stay tuned for much more on this topic.
Closing thoughts
- My performance, especially in light of my reduced training volume (or maybe because of it!) has not deteriorated. In fact, this week I had 3 best times in 3 of the activities I do weekly (tire flipping/sledge hammer/plyometic routine (1:04); short sprint up 15-18% grade (0:39), and long sprint up 8% grade (3:29)). It’s possible the added carbohydrate, relative to my constantly ketotic state, has facilitated this, despite consuming about 15% of the carbohydrate I used to consume on my “standard American diet” circa 2008.
- I will discuss the impact on my biomarkers in a separate post.
- The only drawback I’ve noticed of IFIK so far is that I’ve inadvertently turned my daughter off nuts. About 4 months ago, after having three consecutive identical dinners (chicken-nut-salad), she called my wife into her room as she woke up and said, “Mommy…we need to talk. We need to have something different for dinner tonight. We can have steak…we can have sausage…we can even have regular salad without nuts…but I can’t have nuts in my salad anymore!” Poor girl… So now I have to make my salads separately.
Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash
Such interesting anecdotal evidence. A relentless self experimenter indeed, your website is an invaluable resource.
One of the most interesting things is the way your BMR increased with respect to the dietary change. I certainly don’t know the mechanics of such a health benefit, but I’m sure you have solid theories. I understand that the reduced insulin response purportedly curbs lipolysis (though I haven’t seen specific research) but doesn’t ASP ensure that fat is stored in the absence of insulin? Maybe I’m over-simplifying it; I just can’t grasp the increase in BMR, though clearly you’ve documented it. Here’s a study that documents ASP to an oral fat load: https://www.jlr.org/content/30/11/1727. I’d love to hear your take on it.
My BRM appears to have increased by about 400 kcal/day. Many possible reasons for this, but I don’t know which. FGF21 production? B-OHB production (see discussion on Gibbs free energy)? Increased fat flux through adipose cells?
I’m an ultramarathoner and have been eating low carb for a year because it helps my GERD. On days when I am running 5 to 6 hours it is very difficult to stay under my normal 60 grams of carbs. Is it possible to increase carbs on days with extensive exercise to 100 or even 150 grams while maintaining ketosis? Have you found that with your long bike rides?
I’ve read the blogs of low carb distance runners. Some runners maintain they are in ketosis but also state they consume multipe GUs or similar carb source (30 grams carbs per shot) during an event. Have you experienced anything similar? I’m skeptical and reluctant to return to such a sugary source. I’m using Super Starch. Thanks much.
Yes. On days when I’m riding >3-4 hours, especially around threshold, I can maintain B-OHB levels > 3 mM with > 100 gm/day carbs. That said, I never use goos or stuff like that. My 100+ gm is nuts, fruit, and super starch.
Would you then have to eat those carbs during exercise or can you, to some extent, spread them out throughout the day too? I would guess that 3x30g of carbs vs. 5-80-5g (with the 80 consumed during exercise) would yield very different results also subject to individual differences.
A bit of both. As crazy as it sounds, I can titrate them in to replenish glycogen stores, depending on blood sugar levels.
Very interesting observation. Have you found the same to be true for protein? Do you adjust your protein intake to your carb intake, I’m thinking that a lower carb intake would allow for a higher protein intake? Or do you always consume 1.6g protein/kg?
If for me, no. Mostly consistent in protein consumption.
Mediterranean diet Study
Another pile of reporting crap – the 30% reduction qouted for the heart event reduction is total nonsense –
for anyone who can do third grade math – the actual reduction is less the 1%
Why would any half sane person change their diet for a 1% improvment – they wonld not – apparently people in this country can’t do simple third grade math – which makes one wonder ?
Working on a post right now. Not quite as bad as you think, Jeff.
I don’t see this study as any validation of “the Mediterranean Diet” rather if any benefit is shown, it is from eating more fat and fewer carbs. Imagine the results by taking those diabetics and eliminating sugar, grains, and fruit juice from the diet? Even if science demonstrated this beyond proof tomorrow, the problem, I fear, is that a great many would rather take a pill then make any serious effort to eliminate such foods from their life.
Hi Peter! Have you ever heard of “Pinole?” It’s a corn flour drink with about the same nutritional profile and calorie density as UCAN (at least it appears so). Allegedly, it’s the refueling drink if the ancient running tribe, the Tarahumara Indians. It’s mentioned in the book Born to Run and in other realms of the Internet.
https://www.amazon.com/Pinole-Ground-Corn-5-Oz/dp/B0000GKVUS
Thoughts?
I have not, but it’s not the ingredients (i.e., waxy maize) that makes SS unique, it’s the hydroghtermal process of making it.
Hi Peter, About salt,new studies show that hi intakes of sea salt with natural minerals actually lower incidence of heart attack stroke and high blood pressure verses intake of deminerized ionized salt with anti caking agents. Dr Gerald Polick University of Washington has studied water and found what he calls EZ water the fourth state of water. I think I will live to see him get a Nobel prize for this work. Listen to his interview with Ben Greenfield.It seems that if you add good salt to your daily water it will help structure it so your body makes more EZ water in your cells for energy and mineralized them in the process.I make a Sole’ with Hemalayn salt and add a 1/4 teaspoon to ever liter of water I drink . This concentration gives me enough salt content ao that when I perspire I can taste the excess salt on my arms being expelled . Would this not be a better way to intake salt than a boullion cube? Getting a constant supply of mineralized salt throughout the day instead of big spikes form boullion cubes. I respect and admire your work and look forward to your comment.
Sounds interesting. Are there any recent papers from Polick you can direct me to?
I was doing a Google search on high fat/ketogenic diets and came across an interesting point. This person was discussing avocados as being a good source of fat, but because it also had carbs, they excluded it from a ketogenic diet. Someone commented that avocados are also high in fiber so it would reduce the carbs and to use net carb when determining carb intake for ketosis.
According to NutritionData.com – Avocado (150 g) = 240 calories, 22 g of fat, 13 g of carbs, 10 g fiber.
What are your thoughts on this? Do we use net carbs or gross carbs when moving to a ketogenic diet?
Addressed several times in various comment threads.
Peter, do you have a good source on Leucine’s impact on insulin and ketosis? Phinney and Volek write in the Carb. Performance that “the primary driver of muscle protein synthesis is not insulin, but the availability of essential amino acids, especially leucine.”…. and say that availability of leucine in blood increases under ketosis due to lower leucine oxidation… but stop short of recommending leucine supplements. I am considering taking leucine for weight training (and potentially also for cardio), but have seen data that claims that leucine has >2x the insulinogenic effect of glucose, which would likely make it very adverse to ketosis. I know you take it for your high intensity training. have you observed the negative impact on ketosis? can you point to any good data on how to think about it? thanks
Check with Jeff Volek or Steve Phinney directly. I do not. I take such small amounts, that it seems to have no measurable impact.
Would it be accurate to say that low carb caused your weight-loss and fat loss because of an increase in BMR, naturally decreased appetite and less metabolic need for food, and perhaps aided athletics performance?
Thanks Peter
It’s certainly possible that some combination of all played a role.
If one is able to maintain ketosis while keeping dairy as part of their diet, then is there any reason to reduce/eliminate it?
Could dairy, even while in a constant state of ketosis, have negative effects such as hindering fat loss?
I think that is possible.
Hi Peter,
I have started my keto-adaptation two weeks ago and I’m still looking for what to eat. One thing that I’m not sure if I should is linseed. Altough it has 29g of carb per 100g, it has 28g of fiber per 100g.
What do you think?
That’s why they make ketone meters.
After doing much research on a Keto diet, I decided to embrace it and see what impact it would have.
First of all let me start by saying I am a fellow Canadian living in Berkeley CA.
I am a personal trainer and also a hockey player.
I have been strict Keto for about three weeks.
I have dropped weight, cancelled my afternoon nap, have much energy walking hills, am not hungry, and extremely alert!
I have experienced brain fog but not anymore…
Cons,
I did experience some toe cramping and calf cramping, that has since decreased.
I did notice that my muscle tissue got a little soft( i’m doing some resistance to try and bring that back and also am putting more salt in my diet
I did notice dry skin but i’m hoping the addition of extra salt and drinking more water will help in this area.
All in all , it’s been a very positive experience for me.
Thank you Peter for all of your work !
Great to hear your experience. I’m sure readers will have many suggestions.
This is all fascinating. My body chemistry is similar to yours and I used to exercise intensely 6 days a week, eat ‘athletically,’ and was strong and fat-ish.
I’ve since started eating way more fat, less carbs (always in the form of green vegetables and maybe 1 orange or a few berries per day) BUT ALSO
I’ve cut my working out down dramatically, while upping the intensity dramatically. I do resistance training for only 30 minutes (no real stopping, eccentric, DEEP burn) 1x per week, and high intensity interval training 30 second sprint at highest resistance on elliptical followed by 2 minute slow jog a total of 8 times. It’s torture and my heart rate is at a maximum based on the monitor I wear.
I’ve gone from a 36 waist to a 33, although my weight is still around 200 but my shoulders are around a 44. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. I’m thinking of lowering carbs and protein even more and upping fat, but keeping my workouts the same. I eat about 2400 calories/day and am thinking of going to 2200.
Thanks,
Jeff
I suppose I have two questions. Relationship of Vitamin D to Insulin, is there any? Live in Oregon and have a severe deficiency. I’ve called several clinics near my location for DEXA and most only do hips and spinal scan. I’ve been told that OHSU has a full body DEXA. Some background on these questions, I’m 5’10” at Christmas i weighed 307lb’s, I’m 27 years old. I found out about this Blog in Feb. Since then i have lost 30lbs so far, I train extremely hard when it comes to weights. Also I play pickup-ball 2-3 times a week. (no one ever believes me when I tell them I weigh as much as I do, I carry it well idk?). After losing this weight i would really like to see a full DEXA. Is there a specific approach to get my general Dr. to provide me with a referral? Goal, 12 months = <200lbs. genetically I've been dealt the cards. this is unfortunate.
Hmmm, I am not sure, Ryan. You can get a DEXA without a Dr. referral. I recommend looking for a university, which usually offer them cheaper than private facilities.
Peter,
Almost a year later, do you still follow this (or another) IFIK protocol?
If so, what do you observe?
Thanks,
Patrick
I’m mostly back in “regular” ketosis, only doing fasting when I’m traveling and good food is scarce.
Any weight gain since fasting less?
Yes, but there’s a big confounder…I lift weights more now. So the 6 pounds or so I’ve put on 5 months is probably at least partially by increased lean mass.
Peter, are you calculating Protein requirements based on total body weight or on LBM. On your data by the end of your N=1 it is about the same (from 0.764 to 0.717). But when I enter those values (due to being 23% BF) there is a variance range from using 89g to 108g/day for me. I am keen to get started on my n=1 but want to set it up correctly. Can you tell me if you went by total weight or LBM please.
Cheers Ian
ps, in regard to GTT from memory the lab suggest eating carbs for the preceding couple of days. Do you do that or do you get the GTT done while still in ketosis.
Ian
ahh found the answer to the how much protein question in the
‘Can you build muscle by eating fat?” Post.
“As a general rule, consuming 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per kg of body weight is more than adequate to build muscle.”
Ian
Hi Peter,
Last night I watched a documentary called ‘Forkes over Knives’ – as the title somewhat alludes to, the takeaway message was advocating a high plant whole food, low fat and no animal meat diet.
I have seen similar websites like yours based on such eating habits, with similar enthusiasm and claims of fantastic health benefits.
I was wondering if you’ve seen this documentary, and what your opinions are on this science? If you haven’t seen the documentary, substantial evidence based cases are provided to show a high correlation between animal-meat and various ailments (i.e. cancer, coronary heart disease etc.).
Thanks, and thanks again for the amazing wealth of knowledge your website has provided.
~S
Actually, if I understood it correctly, I think the title of this film was to indicate that forks (i.e., eating) could be more effective that surgery, or medical intervention (i.e., “knives”), though I know it’s also interpreted as not needing a knife if you don’t eat meat.
You’ve hit the nail on the head, though, with the term “correlation” rather than cause. A thoughtful response to this film or the book it’s based on, is well beyond the scope of short response here. Much has been written about it, and if you’re interested, you may want to look here:
https://rawfoodsos.com/2011/09/22/forks-over-knives-is-the-science-legit-a-review-and-critique/
I’ve also indirectly touched on this topic in this post:
https://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/is-red-meat-killing-us
Last point I’ll leave you with, when trying to unwind the relationship between correlation and cause. It’s widely reported that a home with a fancy alarm system is 3x less likely to be broken in to. This is clearly and association. But does it contain causal information? In other words, is this true BECAUSE they have the alarm system, or is it possible that some other factor (i.e., “a confounding variable”) accounts for the lower break-in rate? I don’t know the answer, of course, but I can think of many such variables, including socioeconomic status — that is, those who can afford fancy home alarms also live in neighborhoods that don’t suffer as mean break-ins. So we can’t possibly know without doing an experiment.
Hi Peter,
Last days, after I found your web, I have been extensively reading all your articles. I have to say they are awesome. Wonderfull information and very well explained. Thank you very much for your work.
I have been 3 months doing a LC diet (20 grams), not hig fat and high protein with bad results (trying to treat my reactive hypoglycemia). But I discovered your web and I learned that moderate protein and high fat were the keys. So I started a proper Ketogenic LCHF diet. After 10 days on Ketogenic diet my hypoglycemic simptoms were really improving but I was feeling quite bad (tiredness, light headedness and headache) and then you give me the answer, sodium. I have augmented my daily intake of sodium and just after 1 day I really feel great again. Thanks to you!!!
Just one question about the sodium intake. In other article you said that in this tipe of diet you excrete more sodium than normal so your daily intake was around 5 grams + 2 grams in hard workout days. It´s still that the right amount for you? How could I know the right amount for me if it varies from one individual to another?
Thank you in advance and greetings from Spain!
You would best determine it empirically, with lightheadedness and sluggishness being the biggest symptoms.
Hi there,
First, a question:
For sodium intake, would you consider taking Celtic sea salt dissolved in water? It’s full of minerals. When I drink it, I can just feel my body’s relief. The reason I ask you this is my gluten-free lifestyle doesn’t allow the use of many bullion products because they usually have wheat in them, so when I see bullion, my mind thinks of alternatives.
In fact, my next response has to do with alternatives. I have chosen to feed myself and my family by going against the grain…almost quite literally. By way of some research I did on my own in college, I started to minimize gluten in my diet. With terrible asthma growing up, limiting gluten allowed me to go to the gym and exercise without needing my inhaler. It’s been 11 years since I’ve had gluten, and not eating gluten, I believe, has saved my life. When it contaminates my food, I immediately can’t breathe. I have an instant auto-immune response. Other changes I’ve seen: no more fatigue, clearer skin, weight loss (I had always been a slim gal, but I quickly gained weight my first two years of college–guess what I mostly ate? Grains. I’m now back to a healthy weight and I know it’s because I don’t eat gluten).
My children are young, and I’ve made all of their baby food. We do a variety of fruits and vegetables, nuts, nut butters and milks, (no soy anything), seeds (especially sesame/tahini and flaxseed), nutritional yeast, kelp salt, eggs, some meat, and goat dairy products (check out my blog http://www.mishmashmusing.wordpress.com for why I do goat dairy and not cow dairy). I do not introduce any grains until after their first birthday. Please check out my blog and read my post under September 2012 “Mish Mash Beginnings” where I talk about the book “Infant Nutrition” by Mark Percival. You can find it on Amazon. I think you would find it VERY interesting for your learning and research…It talks about gut ecology and how nutrients in our gut are absorbed and especially how a baby’s gut works.) Speak of gut ecology, my mom just learned from her thyroid doctor that healthy gut flora can lead to better weight loss. Growing up, I was always told, “Your gut is the brain of your body. If it is not functioning well, everything else will be off.” In my personal journey, I have found this to be true. I am SO passionate about health, about how I feed my children, about all that I’ve learned. Food truly heals. I could keep talking and end up writing a book here. My blog just scratches the surface if you’re interested in checking it out, so I’ll stop to save room for others to comment here. Thanks for listening. Thank you for sharing your story and research. This is the best reading I’ve found in a long time.