Last weekend my friend Sara mentioned she and her college-aged daughter were committing to Whole30 for the coming month. I’d seen the book Whole30 and knew it was a healthy eating diet, but was curious about the details. That got me wondering about other real food diets such as Paleo and Keto. Are these just fad diets? Like South Beach and Atkins?
Are we talking about a diet as in “to diet” (verb) or as in following “a diet” (noun)? To diet is to attempt to lose weight. Whereas a person’s “diet” refers to the kinds of food they typically eat. Those of us who have dieted to lose weight know the frustrations of a dieting mindset. We congratulate ourselves on taking a positive step, a move to control and improve our health and jeans size, but we all too often end up feeling restricted and frustrated. I think that mindset dooms many of us from the start. I mean, really, how often in our life is “loss” considered a good thing?
Weight loss diets have a catch, a requirement to make a sacrifice or deprive ourselves of a favorite food or treat. No fruit on Keto. Can you imagine?
Why not change our mindsets to consider what we’re adding to our diets, and our lives, by choosing a real food diet (noun diet, not verb). By adding fresh vegetables and whole grains, we’re benefitting our health. Every time you find a new real food to enjoy you tip the scale in favor of healthy choices in the future. And I am confident that those added healthy foods will make you feel better inside and out.
I followed the South Beach Diet (verb) about a dozen years ago. I lost some weight so it worked, until it didn’t. Plus, I was always checking the reference guide at the front of the book to make sure whatever food I wanted to eat was within the allowable glycemic index range.
But what really turned me off was discovering boxes of South Beach protein bars at the grocery. Those processed products ran contrary to everything I thought their books were telling me to do. Which brings up an important point: Don’t be taken in by slick advertising and incredible claims. Listen to your body. It will tell you which foods work for you and which ones you’re better off without.
That said, here’s a quick run down of three popular diet philosophies, and some photos with recipe links. Note: Each dish pictured meets the criteria for all three of these diets.
The one common denominator in all of them: Ditch the processed foods! Whole30, Paleo and Keto are unanimous in their loathing of added sugars and processed foods. From that starting point, there are some notable differences.
Keto
The Ketogenic Diet (verb) is the most rigid of these three plans. The goal is to put your body in the metabolic state of ketosis, which causes your liver to begin breaking down fat stores to use for energy. This is why carbohydrates (sugars) are severely restricted. If there’s sugar floating around in your blood then the fat stays put.
I think it could also be nicknamed the Eat Fat to Lose Fat plan. Because to follow Keto means 70% of your calories need to come from healthy fats. 70%! Whoa. Even with the caution that the fats must be healthy fats, that’s a huge leap of faith for those of us brought up in the low-fat era. Proteins are to be 25% of your calories and carbs no more than 5%. Those 5% will come from some specific non-starchy/low sugar content vegetables. (This plan has some similarities to Atkins.) Keto link.
Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad
Paleo
As in the Paleolithic era in the history of people. A professor from Colorado State University has theorized that we need to be eating a diet similar to that of our way, way back in the day ancestors. The premise is that our bodies have not evolved as quickly as our food production processes have. This includes advances in agriculture. It’s believed that food related diseases are a result of this mismatch. Advocates believe our bodies aren’t able to cope with grains, dairy, refined sugar, and highly processed foods.
And, no, you’re not expected to go out and hunt and gather your meals! Just stick to foods that nature gives us. Foods that didn’t initially come about due to The Hand of Man. So, yes to meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, healthy oils. No to grains, corn, beans, dairy. Paleo link.
Open-Faced Omelet with Avocado and Pico de Gallo
(The vibrant color of the eggs is due to our amazing backyard hens!)
Whole30
(That’s not a typo; it’s creative license. They leave out the space between “Whole” and “30”) Whole30 has its roots in the Paleo diet, but is considered to be a short term “nutritional reset”. It’s a way of getting your body to a place of healthy hormone, gut and immune functioning. You do this by eliminating foods that have been shown to cause inflammation – even if you don’t think your body has an issue with inflammation. You’re asked to strictly follow the Whole30 food rules for, well, 30 days. (When I first heard the name, I thought there was going to be a list of 30 whole foods.)
After the 30 days, you begin to systematically reintroduce certain foods to see how your body reacts. After the initial month, Whole30 ends up being the most flexible of the three philosophies because it encourages you to learn to listen to your body to gain a better understanding of what foods make your body, mind and mood feel right. Whole30 link.
Asparagus, Egg and Bacon Salad
I’ve picked up cookbooks, looked at Instagram and Facebook posts and searched websites geared toward these philosophies and more. I think it’s okay to immerse yourself in a specific real food based diet or to dabble in several. As long as you keep feeling like you’re increasing the health of your body and not losing out, you will continue to be successful in your healthy eating lifestyle.
As you transition from eating fewer processed food products to eating more nutritious foods, you’ll probably end up dropping a few pounds, or more, as a bonus. But let’s make the only process related to foods be the process of shifting our diets (noun) to be full of real foods; foods that nature, not factories, creates.
