Revamp Your Food Pyramid

Last year my kids came home with the food pyramid from school and we had an immediate talk about how that is not an accurate way to eat. Tuesday, my two oldest kids asked me about nutrition and my son pinned me down on what my food pyramid would look like. He was quizzing me and drawing it out. I liked it so much, I redid it for you. Now, if the thought of eating some fat is foreign to you, definitely check out the website address I put at the top of page 2 under Calories. The article will blow your mind. This is 2 pyramids in one.

Some of you are looking at this and going, “what the heck?”. This is how I see it. This is how I see healthier people eating and how I would structure a basic diet for someone with health problems or weight issues. What is one main problem with obesity in America?

People eat too much, right? The solution of the food industry is to spike the food with chemicals that make you crave more and rip out all the natural vitamins so your body craves even more food, or drowns the food in sugar to stimulate appetite = (always hungry). The medical and dietary community says “watch your diet!” “Eat fewer calories”. If you are stuck in those ruts read the webpage on calories on page 2. Here is the plain simple reason I want you to eat more protein and good fats. They make you feel FULL. They decrease your appetite. Natural and simple.

Even though it flies in the face of all you hear on T.V. Struggling for protein?—I use Whey Pro Complete everyday.

Fun Fast Fat Facts
The Four F’s of Survival.
For those of you who aren’t Biology majors.
Most people need more fat in their diets.

I get this question almost every week so I thought I’d make it easier for you to use and see. I will put a list here first then explain more at the end.

Good Fats:
These are the easiest to obtain and use
1. Butter
2. Lard
3. Extra Virgin Olive oil (Not “Pure”)
4. Coconut oil
5. Cod Liver oil (not for cooking)
6. Flax oil (just don’t cook with it)
7. RAW milk or cream (Not pasteurized)

If you have these go ahead and use them
8. Beef, chicken, goose or duck fat
9. Palm oil, sesame oils
10. Flax oil (just don’t cook with it)

Bad Fats:
Unless you are fond of cancer, heart disease, or immune system problems don’t use these oils.
1. Any “hydrogenated oil” (margarines, shortenings, etc.)
2. Any “vegetable” oil
3. Soy oil
4. Corn oil
5. Safflower oil
6. Cottonseed oil
7. Especially Canola oil
8. Sunflower oil

So what’s the difference?

The first list is a list of natural occurring fats that have been around forever and used by every healthy population that ever existed before ours. You might be thinking that there are some pretty natural things on the “Bad” list. It’s true, if you drive around Minnesota or Iowa you will find lots of corn and soybeans. Yes, they are natural but they have other properties that make them undesirable.

The 3 main problems with the “Bad” list:
They are either
1. Heavily processed (that nasty hydrogenation)
2. Man-made (canola)
3. Or high in omega-6 fatty acids. (all of them)

Omega 6 fatty acids promote pain and inflammation. All of the patients I see don’t really need any more of that. The three easiest ways to control pain are taking omega 3 fatty acids, chiropractic adjustments, and water.

Lets explore the good fats.

This is the credits for a medical book I have from 1944. Here is something to ponder, there are 12 pages dedicated to Rheumatic fever and one page and one page only dedicated to a “coronary thrombus”. That’s it. Not once does it ever mention cholesteol, fats, or any other of the nonsense we are bombarded with. Why because heart attacks weren’t the main cause of death back then. If you go back even further to the 1920’s or before there is almost no mention of heart attacks.

What I found fascinating as a chiropractor is the book actually puts more emphasis on the nervous system control of the heart as a cause of problems than on heart attacks. Interestingly enough a medical doctor back in the 1920’s did over 200 autopsies and everyone of the ones who died of a heart attack had a rotting nerve going back to a curve in the spine. Chiropractic has always been more than a way to control pain and joint damage. It is a way to stay healthier, naturally.

Here is a good quote from the book “There is always a certain proportion of such people in any population. They are frequently classified as having real heart disease or as having thyroid disease, or tuberculosis, or as simply being neurotic.”…”When these symptoms are present, rest, recreation, exercise increased gradually and carefully, and attention, to the general health should restore the patient to normal.”

Notice that it didn’t say jack these suckers up on medications and they had some heart drugs back then as well. Also note that they should return to normal. As Bruce West would say, not to become a cardiac invalid. That being said, people are much more unhealthy now than before so there is some important emergency and short term use for medications.

I hate to be the logical one but if we stop and think. “Thinking” doesn’t factor into much in the way of health anymore. What did people eat primarily until about the 1950’s? Eggs, bacon, steak, RAW milk, veggies, butter. People ate food from animals and the earth and heart disease was almost non-existent. HMMM. Now people are told to eat 6-11 servings of processed grains a day and heart disease and cancer are uncontrollable. People are told to stay away from the very foods that got us here. I guess this is our way of population control.

One more added note about “good fats”. They should be from good sources. The animal fats should come from hormone and antibiotic free animals. Grass-fed would also be best. Also organic would make a significant difference for any of the fats.

Some bonus material on fats
1. Fats slow down the absorption of carbohydrates, thus making then good for diabetics and basically everyone else eating the food pyramid.

2. Fats are the backbone of your hormones. No fats, No hormones

3. Fats are needed for mineral absorption on the guts.

4. Fats help you absorb vitamins A,D,E, and K

5. Saturated Fats are stable to cook with unlike vegetable oils

6. Artery clogs are actually only 26% saturated fats the rest being unsaturated.

7. If you are still concerned about cholesterol you really, really need to read “The Cholesterol Myth”