Through the wonders of facebook, I learned that a friend, Trina, whom I had gone to High School, and University with is now a dietitian who once worked for the Dairy Council! A perfect person to solicit advice from before my vegan quest. I really valued her expert advice since she was able to give me all the pros and cons in an honest, and unbiased way. Currently, she is a project manager in the evaluation and development of community nutrition education programs.
Here are some of her comments, from my resident dietitian, on topics I raised:
OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS
There is a lot of great research on omega three fatty acids. I heard a speaker that referenced an paper that "calculated that known cardiovascular
benefits of eating farmed salmon outweigh the theoretical risks for cancer (from PCBs) by a ratio of 400:1". *JAMA 2006;296. Yes, there are risks but sometimes the benefits outweigh them. Also, there is nothing like the taste of good food!
MY INCREASING EXERCISE INTENSITY, AND CUTTING BACK ON BREAD AND RICE
Terry, is this something you can sustain long term? Losing 41 lbs is fantastic but remember that you need to enjoy eating. Could you compromise by measuring your portions based on the calorie level you are trying to achieve? With all the physical activity you are getting make sure to get in enough protein to rebuild your muscle mass.
MY DESIRE TO BE EVEN MORE STRICT FOLLOWING DR. FUHRMAN'S PLAYBOOK -
NUTRIENT DENSITY
I really like your focus on nutrient-dense food. There is a nutrient density coalition promoting this.
SATURATED FATS
You wrote a nice piece on saturated fats saying they "are the main culprit in raising blood cholesterol, which increases your risk of heart disease." There is new research showing that not all saturated fats raise the risk of heart disease. Some say that white hat syndrome prevents this viewpoint from getting its fair treatment in peer reviewed journals and by the researchers themselves. Also not all trans fats have a negative impact on health.
4 comments:
Sounds like good, balanced advice. As much as I love what Eat To Live is doing for me, I totally appreciate the "cheats" in moderation.
What do you think of what she said? Can she back any of this up?
Yes, Trina sources her info on Omega 3's, and mentions a speaker's comments about Sat. Fats.
My biggest issue since delving into nutritian 4 months ago has been the lack of unanimity amognst the community. I mean there really are some doctors who promote Atkins!
On my post from 2/18 Darrell posted a comment and link to a professional talking about High Fructose Corn Syrup. Well, he posted again after finding some info that either refutes or clarifies the earlier link.
Becasue of this I welcome all views since in the end, the goal is generally the same, healthy nutrient dense diets.
I understand what she means when she talks about sustainability in the long term, but when you get to your healthy weight it will probably be possible to relax a bit. Dr. F says "...if a thin person or highly physically active individual ate only the highest nutrient foods they would become so full from all of the fiber and nutrients that would keep them from meeting their caloric needs and they would eventually become too thin."
That's me -- I lost the weight I had to lose years ago, and now if I stick too closely to ETL I start looking like a famine victim. LOL! So I add some extra carbs or oil or a treat every day to an otherwise ETL diet.
Something to look forward to when you get to your healthy weight!:-)
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