I was very disappointed in Metabolical. The gist of the book is, "Don't eat processed foods." He stresses that fiber is the most important element of diet. Heavy on plants. Eat enough fiber and you'll be fine. He doesn't bash protein (or red meat, which is refreshing, though he says to avoid deli meats because they're processed), but focuses on fiber and fibrous veggies. He says that applesauce made with with no sugar added is akin to apple juice because it has no fiber, and therefore not worth eating.
He says on keto you can miss important nutrients, so it's not great. He says being vegan you can also miss important nutrients, but you can always supplement. Why didn't he say you can supplement on keto? But then in another part of the book he says you shouldn't need to supplement if you eat real foods. He also says canola oil can be good for you. Talk about a processed food!
Here are some things I thought were interesting (for good or bad reasons) in the book.
He says that nutrition labels are not accurate because your microbiome actually metabolizes 25-30% of everything you eat, plus fiber isn't digested. He says this is especially true for nuts, "where the amount of calories absorbed is a full 30% less than those generated from a bomb calorimeter" and that some manufacturers are now changing the nutrition labels to reflect this. So how do I know if the label on the container of nuts I'm eating has been lowered or not?
"Every single drug company spends more on marketing than on research and development. Some, like Johnson & Johnson, spend double their R&D budget on marketing.... For every $1 spent on 'basic research,' Big Pharma spends $19 on promotions and advertising."
Also says that blood glucose does not always correlate with insulin release, and it's the insulin release you need to pay attention to ... but there's no way to do that on your own.
Equates drinking 2 beverages with artificial sweeteners equates to 1 beverage sweetened with sugar. He's opposed to using any artificial sweeteners at all. He makes no mention of stevia or other natural sweeteners like monkfruit. He says natural sugars contain both glucose and fructose, and fructose is bad, bad, bad. He says sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, and agave are all metabolically the same and all bad for you. So maybe monkfruit falls into this category as well, maybe even stevia.
He says if you follow a low-fat diet, you end up destroying all the big fluffy LCL particles, which leaves you with the small, dense particles that are actually dangerous. Early in the book he also talks about how doctors prescribe statins and a low-fat diet for high LDL. He says, "It isn't just the pill that's the problem. The recommendation of a low-fat diet is just as bad for you (see Chapter 12)." In Chapter 12 he cites studies like one that followed 9,000 patients over 5 years at state mental hospitals and nursing homes "where meals were controlled by removing saturated fat and substituting linoleic acid (from corn oil)." In the end, LDL went down, but heart attacks and deaths went up. However, he doesn't describe the diet as low-fat, just not using saturated fat. He doesn't really explain why he thinks a low-fat diet is dangerous.
Probiotics? Worthless. Says the theory is that you take probiotics and you assume they will proliferate in your gut. Not so. If they did, he argues, why would you have to keep taking them? Also, probiotics are totally worthless without first taking prebiotics.
He doesn't think much of protein, either. He states, "... your kidneys have a limited capacity to excrete the metabolic by-products of protein metabolism, and overexcretion can cause kidney damage." This has been debunked by most of the LC researchers and experts out there. Then he says that if you eat too much protein, it will be turned into liver fat or into excess glucose. Again, I've read numerous times that it's been determined that gluconeogenesis is demand-driven, not supply-driven, so just because there's excess protein around it won't be converted to sugar.
He lists health problems associated with beef consumption: iron, BCAAs, and choline (which contains a by-product that sticks to your arteries and causes vascular disease and leads to insulin resistance).
Also says that plants (carbs) are bad because of all the synthetic fertilizers sprayed on them.
So what are we supposed to eat? Real food, yes, but exactly what since he's just said there are issues with plants, fat, and protein.
Fiber. He says fiber is the absolute most important thing to focus on.
He says studies have shown no difference in outcome whether you're on a low-fat diet or a low-carb diet (again, debunked by numerous studies). The only thing that makes a difference is eating Real Food (capitalization is his). He says any diet will work, but you have to eat Real Food. Still, he says the "low-sugar, high-fiber" Mediterranean diet is the best.
Oh, and no bibliography. He says it's online. That's a cop-out. I don't want to read the book and have to be next to my computer to check references.
Sorry this was so long.
|
Book
I'm not that far into it but as you said, the same message ...don't eat processed foods, fructose will kill you quicker than others and fiber will fix what your diet messed up was already covered.
Linear Mode
