Quality Part II--The Anti-Nutrients

The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure Energy and Weight Loss by Marc David

The Metabolic Power of Quality Part II

Eating quality food increases nutrient value and signals your brain to stop eating. Increasing quality decreases quantity. Eating good quality food also means decreasing the “anti-nutrients” in your diet: Poor quality fats, sugar, white flour, dairy and meats.

Poor quality fats are foods that contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, margarine, and most fried foods. This includes most processed foods, such as crackers, cookies, frozen foods (have you read the ingredients on a loaf of bread lately?). Replace poor quality fat with high quality oils and foods. Use olive oil for cooking and butter for baking. Eat avocados, olives fresh fish, nuts and seeds, nut butters and organic milk, cheese and yogurt. Fat is an essential component of the cell wall of every cell in your body. Cell walls control the movement of biochemicals across their surfaces. If cell walls are bbuilt with poor quality fats, they become more rigid and less able to control chemical traffic. This may be associated with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Poor quality sugar includes high fructose corn syrup, white sugar and all artificial sweeteners. They are everywhere: soft drinks, juice drinks, snack foods, even protein bars. Replace them with organic juices, teas, and water. Use organic jams, fresh fruit and quality sweeteners—raw honey, maple syrup and barley malt. Artificial sweeteners may signal the release of insulin, and without the presence of sugar, signals the body to store fat. Food science states that all sugars are the same from a metabolic perspective, but the distinctions between these different energy sources and how they are metabolized is just beginning to be understood, and they are not all created equal (especially high fructose corn syrup).
Poor quality white flour is another ubiquitous anti-nutrient. These processed carbs cause spikes in insulin levels, followed by a crash and cravings for more sugar and carbs. All diets that reduce carbohydrates have an important tenet at their core: processed/refined carbs are the problem. Don’t eliminate carbohydrates, replace them with high quality grains, fruits and vegetables.
Poor quality dairy means mass-produced hormone-laden milk, cheese and yogurt. Replace with organic products. Evidence is mounting that milk is overrated as a quality food. Lactose intolerance and allergies to milk are rising. Try a week of milk/dairy free eating and see how you feel. You might be surprised. Try rice milk, almond milk and soy cheese as dairy free alternatives (almond milk in your oatmeal is heavenly).
Poor quality meats include processed meats, frozen prepared foods and meat from animals raised on industrial farms. Repalce them with organic/free range/hormone free meats. Eggs, too. Replace some of the meat with vegetarian sources of protein such as tofu. Our overreliance on animal protein is polluting the environment and causing disease.

Make a list of all the reasons why you can’t incorporate quality foods into your life—“not enough time,” “too expensive,” “kids won’t go for it.” Go through the list item by item and decide either:

• it’s a stupid excuse, take it off the list.
• I can find a way to manage this one
• there’s wiggle room here, I can come up with a creative way to mange this some of the time
• I can’t get around this one right now.

You may find ways to increase the quality of your food more of the time if not all the time.