"Super" Diets

SUPER DIETS =D

Recently a friend who runs OutsidetheBoxExperiement has been trying a 100% Raw Foods diet- or extremely close anyways.


How's it working out for him? Well according to him, great.


From an outsiders perspective though, he's in the worst shape I've ever seen him in the years I have known him. I saw him less than a month ago and he was

• weaker
• fatter
• paler and more unhealthy looking

than I had ever seen him before. And I say these things as direct and factual observations, in no way are they intended to be verbal stabs or insults-nor am I ignoring the fact that these changes can come from other lifestyle choices, although the chances that they did are slim at best in his situation.


Anyway, it's pretty scary to see this happen to a friend-all the while claiming things like

• "feeling" strong
• His muscles have severely and visibly atrophied. According to basic exercise physiology, it's impossible to BE stronger with- substantially in his case- smaller muscles. The notion of "feeling strong" is a complete fallacy and a placebo effect at best, and self delusion at worst.
• "better endurance"
• Muscular/cardiovascular endurance is inseparably intertwined with larger and stronger muscles, again, a purely placebo effect or possible self delusion. Furthermore he has measured his "endurance" by running a mile and recording how he "feels" afterward. Not only is a "feeling" a horrible way to measure anything physiological, but this clearly demonstrates a gross misunderstanding of exercise and how the body actually works- in particular for ignoring the body's adaptation to a repeated motor skill such as running. I recommend this article for more information.
  
• lower body temperature
• This can occur for any infinite number of reasons and it is not an inherently positive adaptation. In fact this is not surprising considering how much muscle mass he has lost.
  
• varying ph levels (more alkaline is assumed as a positive change)
  
• The Ph level of your blood can not change. If it changes any measurable amount, you die almost instantly. The only measurable ph level is that of your urine, which is only a result of the foods you eat and has next to zero effect on your body's ph level. It can be dramatically altered by ingesting very acidic sugary foods, or very alkaline foods-all the while not affecting your blood ph. My friend has also stated " I think I’ve hit the plateau." when speaking about PH, which again lacks any scientific credibility since our PH level remains constant throughout our entire lives at all costs.
  
• *Increased libido function
• This is utterly ridiculous to directly link eating only raw foods- you might as well claim looking at a full moon makes you pop wood. Yet another imagined placebo effect.
  
• changes in blood pressure
• My friend has recorded changes such as 124 to 125 in systolic bp. This change being insignificant is an understatement, nor is it directly linked to "better" health despite conventional lore.
  
• weight loss
• This is surely one of the biggest mistakes my friend has made. He's lost 20 pounds, however I would bet my life on it that over 80% of that weight loss was lean muscle mass and corresponding tissues-right down to his organs shrinking in proportion to smaller muscles. This is the exact type of weight loss you do NOT want. Muscle is the most metabolically active and protective tissue in your body. You want more of it, not less. Furthermore he  is recording daily changes in his weight, which is utterly ridiculous. Everyone's weight changes from day to day, hour to hour depending on food/water intake, and what goes out. A .2 lb drop in weight from the day before is not worth recording for any meaningful observation.
•  "cognitive capacity"
• I hardly know how to comment on this daily measurement he's made eating raw food. He basically records his mood every day and believes its directly linked to eating raw food. Really, do I even need to expand on this?
  

I think the biggest error in his thinking though is that of "detoxing"-which is a cure all rationalization for any and all negative effects he experiences as a result of only eating raw. He's acknowledged losing muscle- albeit not as much as he's actually lost- but just attributes it to his body "detoxing" from all the harmful substances hes eaten for so long.


While your body getting rid of toxins from processed food is a real event, muscle loss is completely unrelated. In his case it's coming from not eating enough calories, not enough fat- overall and certain types-, and not enough protein (overall and complete protein). His body literally eats away at his muscle every day since it's so starved of vital nutrients.


His diet is primarily fruit sugar with a bit of fruit fat (avocaodo) and baby spinach. I really don't understand how his results are even a surprise to anyone.


Moving on, what have I said to my friend about eating raw?


Primarily just to read BeyondVeg.


BeyondVeg is a site dedicated to dispelling myths about super diets-such as the Raw Food diet.

It's run by people who have previously attempted different super diets, and are now interested in providing accurate information about the risks and detriments of those diets.

For instance, I am not a vegetarian, a vegan, or anything in between simply because I think it’s wrong to kill animals for food. I look at the facts and evidence regarding the nutritional value of animal and vegetable products, and make my selections accordingly. For the most part, manufacturers and farmers place so many “extras” into their products, that I think it’s healthier to abstain from eating those products as much as possible. My position is not born of a collection of feelings and rationalizations, but is rather based on
scientific nutritional facts and personal experience. 

And what is my position? Simply put, I mimic what the ancient "me" would be eating, best I can. This results in eating mostly plant food high in fat/protein, and moderate to low in carbohydrates. The animal products I eat such as eggs/red meat are of the highest quality I can find. Many foods I eat ARE raw, but not all of them. Man has been using fire to cook food very intentionally for hundreds of thousands of years, and much of the current evidence suggests that our brains were able to grow as a direct result of more protein in the diet (from cooking).

...

Going even further, I've done hordes of research on common "super diets". Everything from vegan diets, to vegetarian diets, pesco-vegan diets, alkaline focused diets, raw diets, and more (not going to name the even more absurd diets).


The biggest problem with these "diets"? They are just that-diets.


What is a diet?


For our purposes at this moment, an opinion-everyone has one, like an asshole =).


What do all modern "diets" have in common besides being- largely- opinion based?

• Only selected research is presented and credited in each diet. If counter evidence is presented it's dismissed, it's almost as if the people creating these diets are blind as bats.
• This is not unlike the modern "cardio" and aerobics movement.

• All of them promise "super" health-again like endurance "cardio" events that provide the false promise of being "ultra fit"-it simply doesn't exist. You can't be SUPER healthy like you can't be ULTRA fit. There is a set point-a genetic potential in the realm of being "fit" for example-and all you can do is approach that point. You can't eat a certain set of foods that ONE PERSON has decided is healthy and become SUPER healthy-that's pure grade A marketing bull shit at best, and ignorance laced with utter stupidity and a hint of arrogance at worst.

• For more information on why we can't be "ultra fit" (which mirrors why we can't be "healthy" beyond a certain point) check this video out by Doug Mcguff, MD where he talks about the does response relationship in exercise and how more of _______ will rarely be beneficial).

• Drum roll please... they all take small parts of the "diet" we are SUPPOSED to eat-as dictated by natural selection, evolution, and what was available over the course of ~2 million years- and amplify them in hopes of better health, and profit.

The reality is we have yet to find a way to substantially improve our "health" (in quotations since it's a grossly overused and misunderstood word, much like-god, good, "like", should etc) above the set point that is our birth right. People promising this are simply lying to you for a profit or are blinded by their own ignorance- or the ignorance of others in the case of my friend.


This is actually the major theme behind my upcoming book- Dream Vitality- that we are meant to eat certain foods and all you can really do is use your common sense once you know and understand what these foods are, which unfortunately isn't easy with the hordes of nutritional trash you find floating around the internet-super diets as a prime example.


In summary, stay the hell away from "super diets" and people promising you the world by eating THEIR way, as opposed to the way we ate for hundreds of thousands of years-millions if you count our ancestors.


Additionally, understand that "diets" that take specific segments from the paleo diet and try to capitalize on them are not doing anyone a favor, and are often hurting people more than they help-which also ties into the false notion of "something being better than nothing"-which means that eating a "raw food" diet for example is not really any better than a SAD (Standard American Diet).


Finally, stay away from crazy people that do excessively weird stuff-such as standing on mats to deflect WiFi and cell phone radiation, worry about breathing in steam in a hot shower, or craziest of all-believe we don't need to eat any food or drink any water. Ya, not kidding, there's a diet for that.


And to end the post, a special thanks- and quote- to David B who helped edit this post and provided valubale feedback.

The real point you’re trying to make is that people will try to sell you anything, and instead of buying into it because it sounds plausible, look at the hard evidence, use your brain, and make an informed decision instead of following conventional wisdom- aka not thinking

-Dream

I commented on my friend's blog-before writing/releasing this post- and he did not approve the comment. Since then he has updated his blog to reflect more nonsense- such as only being on the diet for 20 days while I know first hand he's done it for months now, and also not claiming that the diet is a "long term plan". Why the hell else are you eating to improve your health?

However I am hoping this post allows him to see the fallacies he's bought in to.

If you know anyone wrapped up and "passionate" about some new diet/fad, please direct them to this post or BeyondVeg.com

"Life is a comedy for those that think, and a tragedy for those that feel". - Horace Walpole

ps- sorry if this post was difficult to read at times, I had a lot of difficulty with the html coding of it and it did not turn out as edible as I had hoped.