Diet is Confusing. Read This to Know More About it
Keto, Paleo, Carnivore diet, Intermittent Fasting, after lunch energy dip, Dirty bulking vs Clean bulking
The food pyramid is a lie.
It’s not actually the best diet for us.
It was not designed by scientists but by agriculturists who had to solve the food problem for a large population. That’s why carbs which aren’t perishable and easy to produce in large amounts became dominant.
It’s not an evil conspiracy. It was just a necessity to keep the population alive that time. But times have changed and we have more freedom over our diet than ever.
Diet is the most important thing for weight loss. And no less important for building muscle, staying healthy, longevity, and even impacts our mood (Studies have found a connection with our gut and mind)
Keto? Paleo? Romeo?
Confused hearing all of these names?
I was so I did a little research and thought of just putting it here because it’ll help me understand it better and it’ll provide you with some info too.
Some diets
What is the Paleo diet?
The paleo diet or Palaeolithic diet is also called caveman diet.
It’s eating foods cavemen had access to (like fish and nuts).
The idea is that the food cavemen used to eat is what we’re evolutionarily designed for, and so it’s the food that is best for us.
Our modern diet includes a lot of processed food and grain; something that only became mainstream after the agricultural revolution.
So here are all the foods that fall into a caveman diet (credit):
Fruits
Vegetables
Nuts and seeds
Eggs
Lean meats, especially grass-fed animals or wild game
Fish, especially those rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, mackerel and tuna
Oils from fruits and nuts, such as olive oil or walnut oil
Foods to avoid:
legumes
grain
sugary foods
processed food
Carnivore Diet (similar to Lion Diet)
This is controversial.
Influencers like Jordan Peterson, Andrew Tate, Iman Gadzhi swear by it.
Several claim it treats depression, arthritis, diabetes, and aids fat loss, helps with strength and even improves energy levels.
But there have been no studies to prove these benefits (at least not yet).
Just several testimonies (like this one).
The logic behind this one is similar to that of the paleo diet. It focuses on what our hunter-gatherer population would've eaten. A Mostly meat diet.
It’s another diet that supports the idea that a lot of ailments and problems are because of a high-carb diet.
The diet:
Meat: beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, pork, etc.
Fish: salmon, mackerel, sardines, crab, lobster, tilapia, herring, etc.
Other animal products: eggs, lard, bone marrow, bone broth, etc.
Low-lactose dairy (in small amounts): heavy cream, hard cheese, butter, etc.
Water
Problems with this diet:
constipation due to lack of fiber, lack of nutrients from plants, rise in LDL bad cholesterol.
What is Keto(Ketogenic) diet?
This diet was created in 1921 by Russel Wilder, who used it to treat epilepsy patients; it was observed to bring down the frequency and intensity of their seizures.
Now it’s popular for weight loss, diabetes, cardiovascular health, and even acne.
The ketogenic diet involves consuming a very low amount of carbohydrates and replacing them with fat to help your body burn fat for energy.
This is to get your body into a state known as ketosis. In which your body gets most of its energy not from glucose, but from burning fats, turning fats into ketones in the liver.
It includes eating mostly fats, followed by proteins and very few carbs.
Intermittent fasting
It’s allowing yourself to eat only during a certain window of time and fasting for the rest of the time during the day.
18:6 an 16:8, which means 18 hours fast and 6-hour eating period, or 16 hours fast and 8-hour eating period, are two commonly followed ones.
Benefits:
Weight loss, reversing insulin resistance, energy and productivity.
Other Diet Facts
The deadly combo to put on weight
Fats give us calories.
Sugar-rich foods keep us hungry for longer/increase appetite.
Sugar+ fat= deadly combination
It can lead you to become obese, or if you’re bulking it can be overpowered.
In nature sugar rich founds are not commonly found. So when you do find them your body wants to have as much of them, so your appetite increases.
This is the combo of most desserts.
This is why dirty bulking is easier than clean bulking.
But what are the side effects of dirty bulking?
Dirty bulking problems
High bad cholesterol (LDL)
You may feel sluggish
Instead of being added as muscle, your gains can be added as fat.
Dirty bulking might result in more visceral fat while clean bulking turns most fat into subcutaneous.
After lunch dip and how to stop it
That energy dip after a nice meal is annoying.
You feel too tired to get any work done, and it happens usually after lunch.
One reason this happens is because of our body’s natural circadian rhythm.
But it’s also largely because of a glucose-rich meal. A glucose-rich meal (meal with loads of carbs) causes the blood sugar level to spike. However, we have a tendency to maintain a neutral level or a level of homeostasis.
So to neutralize all this blood sugar, a load of insulin is released and our body ends up releasing so much insulin that our blood sugar levels go below normal. Below where it was before the meal.
This causes a dip in energy levels.
However, for some reason, this effect is a lot less if you mix your meal with fibers and proteins.
Glycemic Index:
Also having food that is lower in glycemic index causes a lesser spike. So if possible try going for foods that are lower on glycemic index. It’s based on a scale from 1-100.
Low GI: 55 or less (fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains)
Medium GI: 56 to 69
High GI: 70 or above (sugary drinks, white bread, pastries)
Here are some common foods (left) with a lower glycemic index alternative(right)-
thanks for reading :)
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