Many foods are labeled “low fat”. Avoid these foods at all costs. Low fat products remove fat and replace it with some form of carbohydrate. (sugar) For example, low fat yogurt, has the same calories as a candy bar. Get in the habit of reading every label. If most of the calories are coming from sugar and carbs put it back on the shelf. Buy the least processed, whole foods you can afford. If something can sit on a shelf, unrefrigerated for years, is it really good for you? Good advice is to buy food that spoils.
Lectins
Lectin is a type of protein found in plants. According to Dr Gundry in his book the “Plant Paradox, insects and mammal without the right gut microbes will have issues with lectin. While the affects of lectin is often subtle, abdominal pain, diarrhea, GI bleeding, nausea or low level systemic inflammation and takes years to cause significant medical issues, some lectins like those found in peanuts or the castor bean can be fatal within minutes of being ingested.
While lectin has some undesirable effects, it is not all bad. Small amounts of lectin may be beneficial for the good bacteria in your digestive system. The effects of lectin in all foods, except grains are reduced through pressure and heat. Slow cookers don’t get hot enough and are not recommended for removing lectin. Easy ways to decrease lectin in foods include:
- boiling
- fermentation
- peeling
- deseeding
- pressure cooking
LCHF - Low Carb High Fat
Insulin is the main hormone that controls blood glucose and fat storage. If insulin levels are high, any extra glucose within your body is stored as fat. Your body will not burn fat in the presence of high insulin levels. In short, you have to starve your body of carbs to burn fat stores. The trick is to lower your insulin levels, then replace 80% of all carbs with fat. The sequence is critical. Only increase your fat intake once you have lowered your carb intake. Then increase your intake of healthy unsatureated fats while avoiding saturated ones.
Fats
Fat is essential to your health. Yet, it has an undeserved reputation for being unhealthy. There are two main types of potentially harmful dietary fat:
- Saturated fat. This fat is a solid at room temperature. It comes from animal sources such as red meat, poultry and full-fat dairy products. Saturated fat can raise bad blood cholesterol. (Lowers HDL which is bad and increases LDL which is bad. HDL is the transport mechanism which takes fat from cells. LDL is the transport mechanism which takes fat to cells) Not all saturated fats are bad. Coconut oil and almond oil, contain high levels of saturated fats, but little cholesterol.
- Trans fat. This fat is an oil at room temperature. Most trans fats are man-made partial hydrogenated oils. This is the worse fat as it is man made and found in many processed foods.
There are three main types of potentially helpful dietary fat:
- Monounsaturated fatty acids. This fat is believed to improve blood cholesterol (improves HDL and lowers LDL.), which can decrease the risk of heart disease. Natural sources of monounsaturated fats include olive oil, and nuts.
- Polyunsaturated fatty acids. This is a type of fat found mostly in plant-based foods and oils. This fat is believed to improve blood cholesterol levels.
- Omega-3 fatty acids. Is a polyunsaturated fat found in fatty fish that is believed to reduce inflammation. (salmon, tuna, trout, mackerel, sardines and herring.)
Good sources of healthy fats, including:
- Olive, coconut, macadamia, MCT, avocado, walnut, sesame oil, cod liver oil.
- Avocados
- Nuts, including almonds (skinless), walnuts, pistachios, macadamia, and pecans
- Fatty fish, including salmon, trout, mackerel, tuna and sardines
Food Labelling
Basics on how to read a nutrition label
Check the serving size compared to what you would typically eat, this will provide the total calories. In the example, if you ate the whole package
280 x 4 =1120 calories (half the daily calories for an average person)
Specifically check total Calories, Fat (type) Carbohydrates (especially how much of the carbs come from sugar) and Proteins. To manually calculate the total calories, Fat is 9kcal/gm, Carbs are 4kcal/gm and protein is 4kcal/gm
In this example,
- fat 14 x 9 = 126 (example used 130)
- carbs 13 x 4 = 52
- protein 24 x 4 = 96
- total is 274 close enough to 280.
Ratio of fats/proteins to carbs is 38g to 13g , greater than 2 to 1 with no added sugar. All in all not a bad LCHF food. The trans fat, cholesterol and sodium may cause some worry.
The Plant Paradox
It is strongly suggested you buy Dr Gundry’s book “The Plant Paradox” to obtain his keto/low lectin recipes and which foods do and do not contain lectins.
The humanfoodbar is a outstanding reference on lectin in our food. Much of the information was taken from “The Plant Paradox.”
Lectin Free Food - The Good
AnAverageJoes picks, go to humanfoodbar for a more complete listing.
- olive, coconut, MCT, sesame oil
- macadamia nuts, walnuts, pecans, pistachios
- olives
- dark chocolate 90% or greater
- apple cider vinegar
- almond, sweet potato, coconut flour
- high fat dairy containing casein A-2
- butter, goat Brie
- any wild catch fish
- Shrimp, crab, lobster, scallops, calamari, clams, oysters, mussels, sardines, anchovies
- avocado
- broccoil, cauliflower, watercress, kale, cabbage, raw sauerkraut, kimchi, celery, onions, carrots, beets (raw) asparagus, garlic, lettuce, spinach, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, yams
- All meats that are grass fed, grass finished
- eggs
Foods Containing Lectin - The Bad
AnAverageJoes picks, go to humanfoodbar for a more complete listing.
- All dairy containing casein A-1
- All meat or seafood grain or soy fed
- All heavily processed foods (pastries, cookies, chips, crackers, cereal, pop)
- tofu
- pumpkin, sunflower, chia nuts
- soy, corn, peanut, safflower, canola, vegetable oils
- brown, white rice
- wheatgrass
- all fruits out of season
- cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, squash, melons, eggplant, bell peppers, peas, sugar snap peas, green beans, chickpeas, hummus, tofu, edamame
- diet drinks
- fruit drinks are worse than pop or candy bars
- anything containing artificial sweetners
- all nightshades (there are thousands, main ones to watch out for: tomatoes, white potatoes, eggplant, peppers, cayennee pepper, capsicum)
- all grains, especially whole grains
- oats, rye, quinoa, buckwheat,
- all corn and soy products
- peanuts, cashews,
- wild rice
- soy, corn, peanut, safflower, canola, sunflower oil