Grains

Just a little message from the book Paleo Manifesto by John Durant:

"We Americans would have saved ourselves a lot of trouble if we had never discovered the (overly) simple fact that a gram of fat contains more calories than a gram of protein or carbohydrate, which seems to suggest that, all things equal, any overweight animal should eat more carbohydrate and less fat to lose weight. Yet carb-heavy grains are exactly what farmers feed to livestock to fatten them up as quickly and as cheaply as possible. Let me repeat that, just for good measure: grains -- the base of the USDA food pyramid for humans -- are what American farmers use to fatten up their livestock." (my emphasis)

The Effects of Sugar on the Brain

According to this article: Junk food can junk your memory in a week, suggests new study

VIDEO: Dr Jeff Volek about Low-Carb Diet

This is a video about going from a high-carbohydrate to a low-carbohydrate diet. Here are a few notes:

"Sweden has become the first Western nation to develop national dietary guidelines that reject the popular low-fat diet dogma in favor of low-carb high-fat nutrition advice."

A Few Simple Recipes

When people ask me what I eat, I always say: the same as before, but without refined grains and sugar. It looks something like this (see picture).

1. Pumpkin and cauliflower. 
Very easy to prepare, just boil these vegetables, add a bit of butter and salt at the end.

2. Pork belly with eggplant. 
Slice fresh pork belly (not bacon) and eggplant. Fry in butter. When almost done, add garlic and fresh chili, salt and pepper.

3. Halibut with rosemary.
Fry halibut in butter, add rosemary and lemon when done. Season with salt and nutmeg.

4. Pork belly with local greens.
Thin slices of pork belly fried in butter. When almost done, season with salt and pepper.

5. Capers.
Bought at the store (no artificial ingredients, no sugar) to season plate number 6.

6. Fried tomato and bell pepper.
Cut tomato and bell pepper, fry in butter or ghee (clarified butter). When almost done, add garlic, green onion, salt and pepper to taste.

This, of course, does not mean that everybody should eat like this. The most important is to reduce refined carbohydrates and sugar which unfortunately became an important part of our modern diet.

About Cholesterol

I received a lot of requests recently about high cholesterol levels and their implication in heart disease. I made a few graphs to make it easy to understand.

The Effects of Fructose

I recently received a little present from Hungary: a chocolate bar. I was very surprised to read on the packaging: “Suitable for diabetics”. I checked the ingredients behind, it listed 35% fructose!

Dietary Fat as Brain Fuel

Interesting article: The Fat-Fueled Brain: Unnatural or Advantageous? Are we better adapted to a ketogenic diet, where we use the energy from dietary fat rather than from glucose (carbohydrates)? I already gave details about how our body adapts when carbohydrates are lacking from our diet: Do We Need Carbohydrates in our Diet? Apparently, this kind of diet was not a problem for the Inuit, Aborigines and many native tribes of Africa. They did not develop the diseases of the modern world.

Dr Oz on Alzheimer's

Finally, we can see some changes on television. Here is a very recent episode (aired on 10th October 2013 in the U.S.) of Dr Oz featuring David Perlmutter, MD, the author of Grain Brain.

VIDEO: Do Carbs Cause Alzheimer's?
Don't forget to watch part 2 after the "unavoidable" commercial.

For more information, here is an interview with Dr Perlmutter:
Your “Healthy” Diet Could Be Quietly Killing Your Brain

So, eat your butter! Bon Appetit!

The Case of Vitamin C

According to popular belief, we need to consume a certain amount of fruits and vegetables high in vitamin C (or take vitamin C supplements), to be healthy and to prevent chronic diseases. After a bit of research, I think that our need for vitamin C does not depend on the amount of fruits and vegetables we consume, but on the sugar and carbohydrates content of our diet.

Alzheimer's Prevention

Very excited to read articles like this on the web: You Can Prevent Alzheimer's.

(I already mentioned the harmful effects of sugar on the brain and how it really works: Brain - Cancer and Alzheimer's.)

"[...] in diabetics having the highest level of various diabetes associated factors, things like vascular issues or leg ulcers, the risk of becoming demented was increased an astounding 37 fold."