4 ms·

I stopped eating wheat entirely on Jan 1, as well as most other grains, lost 25 lbs effortlessly, energy shot up, and my LDL cholesterol dropped precipitously.

I stopped eating wheat entirely on Jan 1, as well as most other grains, lost 25 lbs effortlessly, energy shot up, and my LDL cholesterol dropped precipitously. Though I now am sold on the notion that grains are simply nature's way of making you fat, some of the paleo folks go to opposite extremes. For example, IIRC, Dr. Harris (of the paleonu blog above) recommends heavy cream in your coffee. Perhaps this is ok, heartwise, but I think the jury is still out on the long term effects of saturated fat (cancer, etc...)

ggchappell 17y ago
Similar story here. I stopped eating all grains on April 4, 2009. Essentially the same effects that you mention. I also experienced an abrupt end to 40 years of troubles with insomnia. (Someday I'll write an article called "How I Accidentally Conquered Insomnia".)
xiaoma 17y ago
That's an interesting anecdote. I know a number of Japanese who moved to the US for school, stayed the same weight for a while, but then gained 10+ kilos of fat when they stopped eating rice or noodles every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Clearly, some of the worlds longest lived people (Japan #1, HK #2) do very well on diets with a far larger portion of their calories coming from grains than the typical American or English diet. This isn't to say that there aren't any heavy meat-eaters, or especially fish-eaters in the world who remain healthy. But on the whole, meat consumption is strongly correlated with lifestyle diseases and shorter lifespans, when comparing populations of similar wealth.
- msluyter 17y ago
  It's unclear to me how you arrive at the conclusion that the Japanese eat a far larger portion of grains than the standard american diet. I'd like to see some clear statistics on that. One thing I've read is that americans simply eat more calories, period, which would help account for your anecdotal observations. Furthermore, it may be that the Japanese diet has a number of healthy side effects that counteract their rice consumption: seaweed, high omega-3's in fish, natto (source of K2), etc... Country by country comparisons are famously problematic (see "Good Calories, Bad Calories") because there are so many variables to consider. Finally, I'm not suggesting "eliminate grains and eat more meat," rather "eliminate grains and eat more vegetables."
  - xiaoma 17y ago
    I have read the statistics before-- in the 70's 70% of their calories came from rice alone, and even now, nearly half their calories come from rice and over 70% from carbohydrates in general. I've also lived with several Japanese people. A bowl of rice is eaten at almost every single meal, including breakfast. It is true that the diet has become westernized and meat and fat consumption have gone up in the past 40 years... but so have their rates of heart disease and diabetes. I don't have as much familiarity with HK diets, but they are also eat rice, noodles or dumplings at almost every meal, and eat less meat, and dairy than Americans. Having lived most my adult life in Taiwan, I can say with absolute certainty that from this side of the world, the US diet looks absurdly high in meat and junk food and severely lacking in whole grains, vegetables and fiber. Edit: It's also uncommon for people here to worry about adding more protein and more meat to their diets like people in English speaking countries do. It's not even on the radar.

ggchappell 17y ago

Similar story here. I stopped eating all grains on April 4, 2009. Essentially the same effects that you mention. I also experienced an abrupt end to 40 years of troubles with insomnia. (Someday I'll write an article called "How I Accidentally Conquered Insomnia".)

xiaoma 17y ago

That's an interesting anecdote. I know a number of Japanese who moved to the US for school, stayed the same weight for a while, but then gained 10+ kilos of fat when they stopped eating rice or noodles every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Clearly, some of the worlds longest lived people (Japan #1, HK #2) do very well on diets with a far larger portion of their calories coming from grains than the typical American or English diet. This isn't to say that there aren't any heavy meat-eaters, or especially fish-eaters in the world who remain healthy. But on the whole, meat consumption is strongly correlated with lifestyle diseases and shorter lifespans, when comparing populations of similar wealth.

msluyter 17y ago
It's unclear to me how you arrive at the conclusion that the Japanese eat a far larger portion of grains than the standard american diet. I'd like to see some clear statistics on that. One thing I've read is that americans simply eat more calories, period, which would help account for your anecdotal observations. Furthermore, it may be that the Japanese diet has a number of healthy side effects that counteract their rice consumption: seaweed, high omega-3's in fish, natto (source of K2), etc... Country by country comparisons are famously problematic (see "Good Calories, Bad Calories") because there are so many variables to consider. Finally, I'm not suggesting "eliminate grains and eat more meat," rather "eliminate grains and eat more vegetables."
- xiaoma 17y ago
  I have read the statistics before-- in the 70's 70% of their calories came from rice alone, and even now, nearly half their calories come from rice and over 70% from carbohydrates in general. I've also lived with several Japanese people. A bowl of rice is eaten at almost every single meal, including breakfast. It is true that the diet has become westernized and meat and fat consumption have gone up in the past 40 years... but so have their rates of heart disease and diabetes. I don't have as much familiarity with HK diets, but they are also eat rice, noodles or dumplings at almost every meal, and eat less meat, and dairy than Americans. Having lived most my adult life in Taiwan, I can say with absolute certainty that from this side of the world, the US diet looks absurdly high in meat and junk food and severely lacking in whole grains, vegetables and fiber. Edit: It's also uncommon for people here to worry about adding more protein and more meat to their diets like people in English speaking countries do. It's not even on the radar.