Paleo AND Healthy Priority List.....

Today's post:  Tuesday, 1-24-2017

There are many versions of food “pyramids.” 

A.  Health OK very low carb protein foods.

Ben Ong sent one in his email recently that was oriented to eating in a way that was ketogenic which would help people lose excess fat and remove most issues with high blood sugar not caused by type 1 diabetes.

This approach is mostly sound though it can include proteins and fats from animals not fed their natural diet and leaves out some foods known to have extremely high health benefits.

Here is my completely reworked foods list that aims to range from low carb and ketogenic to reduced carb and very low glycemic AND to include those foods known to have extremely high health benefits. 

It’s for you if you want to:

get maximum health benefits from what you eat;

allow for a good bit of variety;

just about completely eliminate harmful foods and drinks, and

provide enough protein you can maintain strong bones and muscles if you also do effective strength training.

1.  Put wild caught fish

from unpolluted waters which is low on mercury and high in omega 3's

                                                                                                                first.

[Later it may be possible to eat health OK algae of the kind that these fish eat!

That will need some time to bring the cost low enough while maintaining the quality.]

2.  Put whey from grass fed cows this second group; included collagen proteins from grass fed cows; include eggs from pasture fed chickens; and cheese from grass fed cows in this second group. [For super ketogenic periods though leave out the whey.]

3.  Put lamb or beef from 100 % grass fed lambs & cows in the next group. 

(Lamb liver from 100% grass fed lambs may be available from New Zealand but I don't yet know a source for it.  When I do, it belongs in this group.)

4.  So far chicken and chicken liver from truly 100% pasture fed chickens that ingest no arsenic or any kind of grain is not available -- nor is completely naturally fed ham.  When they are, they belong in this group.

B.  Health OK oils help to power ketogenic power to your brain when carbs are low or very low.

1.  Bulletproof Brain Octane with the 2 OK tasting MCT oil fractions that do this job well may be the best one for this.

2.  For food oils and fats, extra virgin olive oil has the best health profile.

3.  Organic, sustainably raised coconut oil helps both ketosis AND is health OK -- plus it tastes good.

4.  Butter from cows that eat only grass is OK in moderation and Kerrygold supplies it!  [For super ketogenic periods or fasting, Bulletproof Gee may be better.  But Kerrygold salted butter tastes better & the salt is useful in fasting.]

C.  Other low carb foods that have very high health value:

1.  For those not allergic and who are burning enough calories too, adding raw tree nuts and avocados in moderation is OK when not fasting or being super low carb.  

2.  For health, even a low carb diet short of fasting or temporary super low carb eating must contain nonstarchy --- low carb organic vegetables are essential.  And cruciferous greens and other cruciferous vegetables are best.

3.  For health, even a low carb diet short of fasting or temporarily low carb eating must contain a low carb high nutrition organic fruit at least once a day.  

While fasting or  temporary super low carb eating, taking fruit extracts such as bilberry, elderberry, cherry, and cranberry are a desirable substitute and are a low carb way to add to the effect of the one whole organic fruit a day.

4.  [Doing the right kind of vigorous exercise most days of every week both almost triples the health effects of the foods in C. above D next AND makes eating them act as if they were lower in carbs!]

D.  Health OK foods that are low carb to help with variety, adding muscle when extra carbs help, adding good taste -- AND are health OK but only in controlled moderation:

1.  High nutrition, organic vegetables that have some extra carbs and are high in hundreds of carotenes; very occasional use of sugar in a natural form such as dark molasses, real maple syrup, or unprocessed local honey -- and organic raisins and prunes.

2. Red wine, two glasses or less, before dinner only on most days has more health benefits and fewer health harms than other forms of alcohol.  Alcohol is carcinogenic; but red wine also contains an antidote to this which minimizes it or removes it.

E.  Other foods and semifoods and all soft drinks and artificial sweeteners do NOT make the cut and are best NEVER eaten or consumed at all!  

The same is true of MSG and the fast food and some Chinese restaurant food on which MSG is always or often used!

This is also true of hybrid wheat, all oils made from grains, and any fish or animals fed grains at all!

F.  [The one exception is meats and other protein foods of this kind which had almost ALL their fat removed. If a very thorough 3 part fat removal process is used, these can be OK in moderation because they are then less harmful to your health and are at least low carb.

Doing this in extra moderation can help you get affordable animal protein foods.

It is low carb and ketogenic and minimizes but does not eliminate the harms from grain fed animal fats.  Most of the harms are in the fat, so removing it very thoroughly works partially to protect you.

The DASH diet gets good results with this approach.  

But if you can afford it, the naturally fed animal protein and fats are safer and give you better nutrition.]