The Food Pyramid is a Lie, Part 4 - The New Food Pyramid

If I've made any case at all for the argument that the modern high carbohydrate, grain based diet is at least part of the cause of escalating rates of obesity at all ages, diabetes, heart disease, and possibly even depression, not to mention simply unnatural, then I have to make a proposal for a solution to this problem. Let nobody accuse me of pointing out problems without offering solutions. Simply suggesting that most people need to eat less carbohydrates in their diet isn't a clear or viable solution, if for no other reason than because it's just plain old difficult to do without some help. High carbohydrate foods are simply everywhere. Almost everything that comes to mind as a snack food is too high in carbohydrate calories to fit into a low carb diet.

Bacon and Eggs - An example of my typical low carb breakfast.

So I'm going to tell you what I do, what my wife does, and what we suggest to others when they ask. There are no hard and fast rules, but there are some guidelines to a ketogenic diet.

A ketogenic diet, which is very similar to a paleo diet, focuses on the goal of using fat, and secondarily protein to produce the body's energy. To put it into numbers, your total caloric intake from carbohydrates should be about or less than 5% of your total caloric intake. Put another way, for every 100 grams of food, no more than 5 grams of it should be carbohydrates. These don't correlate directly, as this doesn't account for indigestible fiber, but it gets you pretty close. For most people this means a target of 20 grams or less of net carbohydrates in a daily 2000 calorie diet to get you in the target range. Your own caloric needs will vary, but 2000 is a good place to start. Net carbohydrates is total carbohydrates minus fiber, as fiber is indigestible and passes right through your body. As a comparison, the USDA recommendation is 45-65% of total calories should come from carbohydrates. We're shooting for 5%. Big difference. This means that what you eat is going to change dramatically. But this does not mean that you have to eat weird foods, take diet pills, drink special shakes, or eat the same things every day.

The easiest way to accomplish this is just to read the nutrition labels on things. I promise, it doesn't take long to learn what's in your food. If something doesn't have a label, as in the case of fresh foods like vegetables, look it up. There are myriad sources in the form of books and websites dedicated to this information. A very good one is myfitnesspal.com

Examples of things not to eat:
Bread
Noodles
Potatoes
Chips
Crackers
Tortillas
Sugary soda

Examples of things TO eat:
Meat
Eggs
Nuts
Vegetables
Avacados
Fish and shellfish
Cheese


Above all else, it's important to know what's in your food and reading labels is the key to this. Whether you choose a true ketogenic diet, or simply a low carbohydrate diet constituting less than 100 grams of carbohydrates per day, you're going to have to change the way you eat.

From this, we can start to picture a new food pyramid:

The foundation of this diet is foods that contain both fats and proteins. Generally this means red meats, white meats such as chicken, eggs, and fish, as well as cheese. There is an ideal ratio of fats to proteins, but in general, it's accurate to say that there should be more calories from fats than from proteins. Fats are first, proteins are second.

Third is vegetables, especially high fiber green vegetables.

And last is sugars. Not all sugars are created equally. Sucrose (table sugar) is half glucose and half fructose. Obviously this provides a sudden flood of glucose to the body and should be avoided. Lactose (milk sugar) is better, and even though it is a sugar and a carbohydrate, the glycemic index of lactose is low enough that you can have an 8 oz glass of milk (ideally whole milk) on occasion. Fructose (fruit sugar) has a very low glycemic index, around 19. If you crave sweets, an apple or other fruit is a good way to satisfy that craving without causing a spike in blood sugar. Please note that this does NOT include High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). HFCS delivers something of an overdose of fructose and has its own health risks. In my opinion, HFCS should be avoided entirely. When we talk about fructose, we mean the fructose that comes from whole fruits, or fruit juices that have no added sugar.

Where do we go from here? Well, what I've written here is just a start. It's a little bit of history, a little bit of science, and a little bit of practical dietary information. But it's just the beginning. To really know what this means for you, you need to continue this education for yourself.

Further useful reading:
http://www.cavemanketo.com
http://www.eatingacademy.com
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf




Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. Please do not take anything I've written here as absolute or infallible. This is what I and many others do, but this may not be best, or even healthy for you. Please talk to your doctor before you make any significant dietary changes.