We know a few things for sure - no debate on certain critical points: 1) Both work more optimally as fuel sources when they are not mixed to any great degree in the same diet. 2) Both keto and high carb dieters report increased well being and reversal of certain diseases. So the answer to the question which is best comes down to just that, which is best, and there are several measures that can apply: 1) Sustainability a. emotional - which is easier to stick with? Are we instinctually more attracted to high fat or high carb foods? b. nutritional - is either more likely to crash for physiologic reasons? c. does either introduce higher levels of toxicity? d. is conversion of food to fuel more efficient with either? (Ratio of calories burned to get fuel calories). 2) Longevity - does either support longer disease free life?
3) Freedom from discomfort - which feels better day to day? (Optimal health is "invisible", we are not aware of physiologic functioning until there is a problem.) a. Digestion is a critical function - is it "invisible"? b. Sleep is a critical function - is it easy and good? 4) Freedom from common diseases - are colds and allergies less likely on either? 5) When used for disease reversal a. which is more efficient in terms of rapidity? b. in terms of degree of reversal? 6) Cognitive performance - is either better? 7) Athletic performance - is either better? 8) Recovery from stressors a. emotional - are psychological markers better on either? b. physical - do high level athletes recover more quickly on either? From everything I have seen to this point, the weight of scientific evidence (controlled trials and long term population studies) is clearly on the side of high carb. It would be interesting (but time consuming) to organize the evidence that does exist on a point by point basis. My own anecdotal experience, what I have seen among the paleo dieters vs the high carb dieters I have had personal contact with, also leans clearly toward high carb. The question itself, which is better, seems to have only come into clear focus recently, and further study of the specifics would clearly be helpful. Impediments to that process may be (or continue to be) the industries whose interests might be damaged by further study, including meat and dairy, pharmacology and medicine, processed food, and health care insurance. Any of these questions could be the topic for a single blog post. I may attempt some of that going forward, meanwhile I'll let them hopefully serve simply as food for thought.
Interesting question, hotly debated these days. We know healthy blood sugar level falls into a relatively narrow invariant range (becoming "Paleo" doesn't change it). We know dietary sugar in the blood does not interfere with the delivery of fat from the blood to the cells, but dietary fat in the blood dramatically interferes with the delivery of sugar from the blood to the cells. We also know the body has two immediate invariant needs for "fuel", oxygen and sugar. A very short time without either and we're dead. As blood sugar drops below normal range we begin to get into trouble...initially basic functioning becomes difficult, if they continue to drop we lose consciousness, and if it drops further death will result: https://www.quora.com/What-would-happen-if-your-blood-sugar-is-zero Blood lipid levels are typically associated with levels of cholesterol, the building block fat, where according to this article there are no immediate pronounced effects to low levels, and long term effects are as yet not all that clear: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/lite.201000070
In the previous post video Cyrus and Robbie say they can demonstrate over and over that a whole food plant based diet reverses diabetes quickly and efficiently. They also feel this diet is the healthiest long term diet possible for humans, and is essentially the same diet detailed in the book "The Blue Zones of Happiness: Lessons From the World's Happiest People"
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Zones-Happiness-Lessons-Happiest/dp/1426218486/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1522244209&sr=1-1 But if this is true, and it becomes clear and obvious when applied by real people, why haven't we heard more about this so-called science? Where is it? The science is there, and voluminous. What we tend to hear about and see however is "conflict science" (like conflict diamonds), which is what makes it into popular media reports. Can we just call a spade a spade, and say "big science" (fueled by the big money of big ag, big pharma, big food, big health care, and big insurance) has worked tirelessly to obscure the authentic science on the pivotally critical role of diet in health? Authentic science also shows funding for studies heavily influences conclusions. And this problem is compounded by our culturally induced eagerness to believe the best about our bad habits. What's a person to do? Well, perhaps begin by taking "the latest science" with a grain of salt. And then, if so motivated, look for what works, and then compare how well it works relative to other approaches that produce better health. Robbie and Cyrus have put together a plant based health education initiative called "Mastering Diabetes" which is currently presenting an excellent online "symposium" featuring some of the best thought leaders, scientists, doctors and medical professionals in the plant based health movement, free to watch for another several days as of this writing 3/30/18 (and after which it goes behind a paywall), and well worth the investment of time! I just watched the David Katz MD presentation, which I recommend very highly. The work Dr Katz is doing gives me hope we may be closer to "universal" reversal of the chronic disease epidemic than I thought. https://masteringdiabetes.teachable.com/
Like...maybe my doctor? Everyone deserves to know the truth about insulin resistance, the precursor condition not only to type 2 diabetes, but also the atherosclerotic family of diseases and the autoimmune family of diseases. Here ya go:
The page at the link below might give some clue as to exactly why we've been "left in the dark" (and continue to be), and it's only the tip of a (much) larger iceberg that also includes medications for the atherosclerotic family of diseases and the autoimmune family of diseases - high blood pressure and rheumatoid arthritis meds each generate more revenue than diabetes meds. Not to mention cancer, which also implicates "bad diet" as a significant causal factor in current epidemic levels in developed world populations. 10 highest selling diabetes drugs 2016:
A friend sent an article called "The Last Conversation You’ll Ever Need to Have About Eating Right" by cook book author Mark Bittman and MD David Katz which I found sensible, and based on actual nutrition science (the less biased variety of nutrition science) and human history. http://www.grubstreet.com/2018/03/ultimate-conversation-on-healthy-eating-and-nutrition.html While reading the thought occurred to me there's an easy way to think about this: how to eat when we're literally surrounded by food technology is how our early ancestors ate. There's a lot of debate about what that was, but it's basically quite simple - they ate what was available. What was available was what nature "forced" them to eat, which varied depending on location on the planet, season, year, etc. But it was all real food. Some of it was considerably more nutritious than most of the rest of it. The people lucky enough to be where that was did better. There's a line in the article "fish is unquestionably the healthiest animal protein to eat" Which reminded me of a Ted Talk I came across recently by fish lovin chef Dan Barber titled "How I Fell in Love with a Fish", that I found both funny, very insightful, and where the title of this post "Farm Extensively, Not Just Intensively" was borrowed:
Tired of writing this blog! (kidding:) Get lean and super healthy for the rest of your life. Contrary to common experience and popular opinion it's actually really easy. You just have to know what the right choices are, and start making them.
We're familiar with the idea that physical activity is at least as effective in treatment of depression and anxiety as psychiatric medications. The idea of psychiatric medication is essentially to mask symptoms long enough to do the psychotherapeutic work of ego integration. The potential problem with this approach is that "masking" can become the "good enough" solution where problems are complex...the usual case with ego integration work, as denial mechanisms are active, and unconscious. So "masking" can delay integration, sometimes indefinitely, neither of which is the more desirable outcome. Integration is essentially becoming simultaneously comfortable with both the "good and bad" aspects of our human character (animal and spiritual), instead of rejecting, or "splitting off" the "bad" aspects that we all (somewhere in there) have in full measure. It's an idea that can initially be difficult for a variety of reasons, but it's the beginning of true "self love", and important. We, many of us, need all the help we can get in this process of integration, and coming to maturity. I did, and I owe debts of gratitude to many who have helped me immeasurably along my path. And I'm not trying to say we become perfect at some point...no, we remain flawed and frequently unconscious, but better. So the idea that physical activity is as or more effective a tool as psychiatric medication for depression and anxiety (the primary two symptoms of the non-integrated personality), is quite interesting. Another equally interesting idea has surfaced more recently, one we are not as familiar with yet, and that is that whole plant food nutrition can also be as or more effective a treatment for depression and anxiety than psychiatric medication. And an even more interesting idea is that the two in conjunction are potentially the most effective non-psychotherapeutic treatment for anxiety and depression extant. (As an aside let me also say that meditation activities fall into the category of psychotherapeutic treatment. Much more can be said about that, and by others more qualified than me.) So the combo of nutrition, activity, and meditation would seem a potent blend, with active psychotherapy an option also. Whole plant nutrition gives your brain (and body) the fuel and nutrient chemistry it's designed for. Activity "stirs things up", like changing the stale air in a room. Together they amplify each other, and the sum becomes greater than the parts. "All the help you can get" means coupling the most effective "non-masking" treatment modalities you can get your hands on. So how do we integrate "whole plant nutrition" exactly? I'm going to let a video do the heavy lifting on that topic for me, a compilation of how some of the experts do it.
